We Are Marked
by Itsonlyalineifitgetsbought
Summary: 17 year old vampire Natalia "Newt" Cruz lives a normal life. She lives with her family in a upper middle class suburb where nothing interesting ever happens, that is until a split sec. decision causes everything to change and tosses her world into chaos.
1. Preface

**Preface**

Vampire: from the Latin word Vampirus. Definition: one who's existence solely relies on the consumption of blood. Synonyms: horrid, blood-sucking, vicious, terrible, murderers, monsters.

I do not disagree. Call me a hypocrite, because I am. Call me a monster, it's just the same.

It's astonishing how much one's life can change in the blink of an eye. One moment you could be happy, the next, sad. One moment compassionate, the next careless. One moment alive, the next dead.

I have been a vampire for a year and I still feel this way about myself. In becoming a vampire I the psychotic, chubby, blonde, emo chick got a real kick in the ass by reality. At the time my life wasn't going all that great, but after _it_ happened, my horrible life, or so I thought, got a whole lot worse.

I was a normal teenager before I was turned. I had a father a mother and 3 brothers. My father, the attorney, worked hard for his family. So hard ever saw us, let alone talked to us. My mother, the obstetrician gynecologist, was always at the hospital delivering babies, but hey, who could blame her for that? Both busy parents living in what seemed like two totally different worlds, but both affected by the same tragedy.

Let me tell you about my other brother. My brother died on his seventeenth birthday (when I was about 13) thus causing my mother into what doctors call P.T.S.D. (Post Tramatic Stress Disorder) for four long years. Now this worked to my advantage slightly. Because of the P.D.S.D. she could not/did not notice my transformation. Of course, to every advantage there is a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that she was not my mother from my seventh grade year to my junior year of high school.

Then there was my younger brothers, James and Matthew. They're your common eleven year old twins. They played video games 24/7, they talked about girls, ate like pigs and so on and so forth, but they both had a mild case of autism.

And then there was Tony. My absolutely wonderful boyfriend who was there for me before, during and after my change, he just didn't really know it.

There are some positives to this vampire thing. I am now stunningly beautiful and that alone was a confidence booster. And obviously there is the worst thing. The blood lust. The word didn't mean much to me before I was a human but now there is a whole world revolving around it. And now here I am living a not-so-normal, forever teenage vampire, life.


	2. Chapter 1 Just An Ordinary Girl

CHAPTER ONE JUST AN ORDINARY GIRL

"This class is so boring." Layla said quietly as she rolled her pencil around in her hands. The second to last period of the day, was always social studies with Ms. What-a-snooze-Hughes. It was also my best friend's least favorite part of the day.

"Especially if you can tell what she is going to say next." I muttered to myself. She had no idea. It sucks to know what's going to happen all the time. There are never any surprises… well… most of the time.

"You say something?" Layla asked lazily while popping her gum loudly. I nodded no then began taking notes on the facts she was about to tell us in her painfully slow voice.

"Are you seriously taking notes?" She asked bewildered. I nodded again, and then she looked at me funny. Of course it didn't occur to her that maybe taking notes is how I remember it all. That's just not how Layla thinks. Its probably a good thing she isn't so observant, otherwise she would know my secret by now. "Its not like you need to, you always get A's and you don't study. What's the point of taking notes?" She told me, snapping me back to reality. I thought for a moment then smiled.

"I take them, for the morons who sleep, draw or _pop their gum annoyingly loud_ in class when they should be taking notes because they're getting a D+." I said to her. She smiled then discretely mouthed a thank you while the teacher walked by. I smiled wider. "It's so gonna cost you." I said wickedly. Her smile faded and turned into an 'I want to kill you so bad right now' look. I quickly dropped my head down to my paper, pretending to take a note while the teacher passed by again.

The worst part about this class for me, was when Mrs. Hughes talked, she waved her arms around a lot. It didn't usually bother me, but today something about her scent was actually tempting, and that's saying something because old lady, doesn't taste that good. The luscious smell whirled around me for a few moments after she hovered over me to look at my notes. I held my breath then griped the bottom of the desk hard, probably denting the metal. She looked up from my book, smiled slightly, then turned to the desk next to me and frowned.

_ "Did_ _her eyes just turn black? Oh shit here come Ms. Snooze. Shit I didn't take any notes. Shit she is going to give me a-"_Layla thought.

"Detention, Ms. Carson. Don't be late." She said to Layla. I laughed silently then began to draw in my notebook.

"Hey Nikki? You think you could, um, work your magic and um, get me out of detention please? You know I have that date with Daemon tomorrow and I can't miss it!" She whispered to me. I sighed then nodded my head slightly and she almost jumped out of her seat in joy. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! You are the best friend ever!" She whispered loudly. I shushed her then whispered back. "You owe me big." I said as the bell rang dismissing us to our last periods which happened to be gym for us.

**Vampire Note #1**

**As a vampire I have ability to never be refused. In other words, I could get myself, as well as my friends, out of trouble no matter the situation. This was not something that I did all the time. If I did the teachers would have noticed that I **_**always**_** got my way and gotten suspicious. I remember one time Layla, Emily and I got caught passing notes in our least favorite teachers class (Science with Mr. Rodriguez (we called him Rodrigo along with the rest of the sophomore class) and all I had to do was flirt my way out of the perverts detention once and he never bothered us again. Once my friends witnessed that, they used it to their advantage. I didn't mind this too much as long as it was for the benefit of all of us and my task wasn't **_**too**_** dirty.**

"Well, ready for gym?" Layla asked while messing with her straight black and purple bang and popping her gum. I looked out the window. It was getting sunny so I had to hurry.

"Nah. I'm skipping. Tell everyone to be at the diner by seven okay. Have fun in gym." I said then ran out of the classroom while putting my sunglasses. I ran to my locker and packed my homework in my ATL backpack. I had to be fast because the teachers would be patrolling the hallways after the second bell rang. I ran out one of the side doors to the huge high school building at a particularly fast human speed, hearing the thoughts of others as I left.

_ "She is so weird. Oh well love her anyway. Hum, Daemon is in my next class maybe we can-"_I blocked out her thoughts then began to run home. I looked both ways and saw two cars coming ridiculously fast then ran across the street quicker than the human eye could see, running home at the same speed.

**Vampire Note #2**

**It's a fact, or at least it would be if people knew about us, that vampires love speed. It's a necessity. I always enjoy running across the street as fast as possible it brings back that adrenaline feeling received on roller coasters when I was human.**

**Sun was not a friend of vampires, therefore not a friend of mine. In the sun we have to wear sunglasses. I don't know why, specifically, I just know that it hurts not to and that I was told to do so. See, I don't know who changed me. I don't know where and I certainly don't know why. What I do remember is the fire. It hurt so much more than words can describe. When I woke up I was vaguely explained to what had happened and the rules by someone and then I was told to go back home and never return to where I was. That was never a problem, nor ever will be, because whoever did this to me made pretty sure I could never find them again.**

I fumbled with my key then opened the door. I stepped into the medium sized house I called home then was greeted by my big hairy dog Grover. After being drooled on for a few seconds I shooed him off. I walked into the kitchen dropping my bag onto the floor on the way, and then placed my keys on the tray table.

I always found it both relieveing and somewhat abnormal that no matter how thirsty I was I would never even think about hurting my dog. When I got into the kitchen I saw a note. It smelled like my mothers handwriting.

"Natalia," it read "_I have some office work to do and your father had a lawyers club meeting tonight… again,"_ I rolled my eyes. Of coarse my father was at a meeting, when wasn't he? "_so you guys are gonna be alone tonight until late. I will call and check on you later. Be nice to your brother"_ I snickered slightly then went on _"and don't bother cooking dinner for just the two of us, I'll grab something on the way home. Make sure Matt and James eat chicken nuggets for dinner and not one of the five other crappy foods they eat, ok? Don't have anyone over and keep the windows and doors locked. I'll be back home around midnight as will your father. Don't wait up"_ I laughed at her clueless to my not sleeping at all then finished _"Love, mommy. P.S. no cooking, only use the microwave…"_ and then she went on listing the rules for my brother and I when she wasn't home. Sometimes she made me feel like such a 10 year old.

I sighed. My homework would only take me a few minutes so I decided to do it later. What I needed to do was hunt. I needed to hunt badly, but I didn't want to go.

**Vampire Note #3**

**I knew I had to hunt for many reasons. One, my throat itched. The back of my throat would burn and itch until my thirst was quenched. Two, I felt an extreme amount of temptation toward any living thing that happened to be near by. Three, the voice inside of you tells you horrible tempting things that if you don't know better, you listen to/do without a second thought. Four, my eyes. A vampire's eyes turn black if they need to hunt and/or when a living thing with blood gets near and waves there scent around. Most of the time all three symptoms come at the same time and it is very… unpleasant.**

**Hunting is dreadful. It is something vampires (Well most of them) do not enjoy. I, being a vegetarian, chose the humane path and feed on animals with large populations instead of humans. It was something I picked up from a book I had read in the eight grade about vampires. None the less I still felt horrible about having to kill animals for my own life and probably will always feel that way.**

**I always felt horrible after hunting. No matter what I did I was a monster and didn't deserve to have friends or family members that cared about me.**

**I always felt bad about lying to my friends and family but decided it was safer for them not to know, and truthfully deep inside I was afraid that they would hate me or expose me and I didn't want to deal with it.**

Deciding I had no choice, I ran upstairs with inhuman speed and grabbed a hoodie that was big enough to cover most of my upper body and put it on, hood and all so that no skin was exposed. I ran back downstairs, took my keys off the tray table then stopped to look at the mirror. I was just as pale as usual, if not even more so and most of my features were the same, that is except my eyes.

My usually green-blue eyes were eerily black with hunger. I picked up my sunglasses off my head, put them on, and then walked back out the front door. I went into the garage, jumped into my beat up second hand sebring then revved up the unnessarily loud engine. Then I backed out of the garage, going over eighty miles an hour and not even on the highway yet.

I got on the highway which, luckily, was deserted, then slammed down on the gas pedal, driving even faster than my usual break neck speed. I drove until I reached my exit then made a sharp turn into a small parking lot off the side of the road. There was a map on the left side of the road showing the best trails in order to avoid them. I continued to run into the woods until I smelled a sweet vanilla smelling smell that stopped in my tracks. I waited for the animal to move closer to me then pounced on it, cracking its neck then biting down, drinking the sweet smelling liquid though my retracted sharp teeth. I drank until it was dry then picked up a near by tree, placed the animal carcass under it, then placed the tree back into the ground. I repeated the process a few more times until the itch at the back of my throat was gone, then I sighed deeply.

_ "Monster."_ It echoed, _"Monster."_ It echoed again _"Living off animals to survive. Endangering the lives of ones you love. Selfish. SELFISH you are. You are a stupid, dreadful, vampire."_ The monster echoed. I frowned then taped a tree with the tip of my toe, forgetting my own strength, and sending it flying into the distance. "Shit." I muttered to myself then ran to pick it up. I returned the tree moments later and placed it back in its original place. I checked my watch. My brothers were going to be home soon, if not already and if I wasn't there around the time they were they would call my mom and tattle on me, so I began to run back to the car.

**Vampire Note #4**

**My junior year of high school was going to end in two weeks, which meant my amazing vacation was in two weeks and two days. My friends and I had managed to convince our parents to let us drive down to Ocean City, New Jersey to stay at the Waldwick hotel on the beach, with no parental supervision for a whole week.**

I had to shake the feeling that I was the worst creature on the planet before I went out tonight because my friends would notice and would question me more than they usually I took a few clensing breaths I ran back to the car in under a minute, then got in and sat there. I popped in the Rise Against CD that was hanging out of the CD player and sang along all the way home. I had driven much slower this time so it took me about a half hour to get home. When I got home my brothers were sitting on the couch staring at the television screen intently, playing video games. They mumbled a hello then continued to play. I waited until they finished what they were doing, then once they put the controller down and looked up at me I spoke.

"So, how was your day guys?" I asked them as they looked up into my face staring at my bright green-blue eyes.

"_Gee I don't know what words could describe what a shitty day I had. Boring teachers, long classes, annoying friends, 57's on your math tests. Just your typical day of seventh grade I guess."_ James thought. I smiled getting exactly what I needed as blackmail, and then laughed at how sarcastic he was in his thoughts as well as in person.

"_Ugh, why does she even bother asking, she knows what were gonna say anyway." _Matt thought. I was a bit stunned at his thought but after a moment I decided he didn't mean anything from it.

"As good as it can be in seventh grade you know? The classes become repetitive after a while." Matt said before James could say something stupid. Matthew was the brains of the two.

"No bad grades Matt?" He nodded no. "James? How 'bout you?" I asked him waiting to see if he would tell me then truth though knowing he wouldn't. He shook his head no then I smiled evilly. "Look. I know you got a 57 on your last math test, so here's the deal. Cover for me tonight and I won't tell them about your grade. Deal?" I asked him. He looked at me in shock then agreed unhappily.

"Listen when mom calls tonight when she asks for me tell her I am in the shower. That's all I am asking you to do ok. Then keep both your mouths shut and I'll keep mine." I said then grabbed my bag and ran up the stairs at a human speed.

**Vampire Note #6**

**Neither my parents, nor my brothers knew I was a vampire, or ever suspected it. No one ever did. They believed vampires were myths, and I didn't blame them for thinking so. Hell, I wish I still did, and I had, up until two years ago. I am now seventeen and living an ordinary life, as a wealthy ordinary girl, or at least I seemed to be to everyone else.**

I walked into my room, which had recently been painted black and red, my favorite colors, then plopped down into my desk chair, and took out my Trig homework. Within five minutes it was done and correct for sure. Then I did the same with my History, Physics, English, Spanish, and Latin homework then placed it all back into my bag.

I then pressed play on my ihome and Saosin's Your Not Alone blasted into my speakers. I then took out my black and red nail polish and slowly painted my nails black. Then when the black dried I painted red tips on them then waited until it dried.

After that I went into my closet, which consisted of black and dark colored jeans, soccer shorts, band t-shirts and a tight black and red fancy dress for special occasions and a few other fancy dresses and pulled off my My Chemical Romance T-shirt and put on one of my Three Days Grace t-shirts. Then I switched hoodies to a tight white one with the Thirty Seconds to Mars logo on the back and threw the big one I had grabbed earlier onto the closet floor. I then decided to put on a few more studded belts over my jeans, just for style. Then I looked for shoes. I searched for at least 5 minutes (which is REALLY long in vampire time) and ended up pulling out my red converse. I took off my sunglasses and let my eyes adjust to the light then put some blue eyeliner and mascara on, which only took a few minutes. Once I replaced my sunglasses I felt much calmer and much healthier.

I checked the clock. It was five thirty six, so I took my sunglasses off then picked up one of my favorite book, which happened to be a vampire book about a 'vegetarian' vampire named Edward who fell in love with a human but was constantly fighting with himself about how selfish he was to have interrupted this human girls life, no matter how many times the girl told him she loved him he would always say he was bad for her though tell her he loved her too.

I read the whole book again without even realizing it, then checked the clock. It was seven fifteen. I decided it was time to get out of the house and go meet the others. I pulled open my desk drawer and throughout the mess was a slightly bulky black wallet. I opened it and checked that my credit cards were in it then jammed it into the tight back pocket of my jeans. I patted my front pocket making sure that my phone was still there, grabbed my sunglasses then left my room.

I said bye to James and Matt, then walked out the front door. It was finally night fall, my favorite time of day, yet my least favorite. It was the end of another day, and yet the beginning of another long night. The moment I stepped outside my eyes hurt so I put my sunglasses back on before they adjusted to the light and I got into my car. I put the key in the ignition the music came on at a deafening level, making me let go the wheel and hold my ears. I lowered it immediately, cursing under my breath the whole time for having super sensitive vampire hearing.

I drove on the main road into uptown Midland Creek where Stanley's diner stood, mostly deserted and dimly lit. I parked next to the beat up Honda Acura I had come to know as my friend Daemon's car. Next to that was a red Mazda which I knew was my friend Emily's car because of the bumper sticker that said Emily the Strange. Then the only other car in the parking lot was a black Cadillac CT, mid condition which was my boyfriend Tony's car. I shut the music then got out of the car checking my outfit. I messed with my hoodie until it wasn't wrinkled then checked my hair. My straight blonde, red and black hair was tied back as usual behind my head into a sharp ponytail, letting my bang hang loose in front of my right eye. After deciding I looked fine I walked across the parking lot and went into the diner. The first thing I noticed was Tony's voice in my head.

"My GOD she is so fucking hot!" Tony thought. And before I could ask the lady where my friends were sitting I heard Emily screaming.

"Over here Nik!" Emily yelled across the room and motioned for me to come and sit. I walked over then sat down next to Tony.

"Hi guys." I said to them "Hey babe" I said to Tony. He smiled lightly then took my sunglasses off for me. _"There now everyone can see your gorgeous eyes." _He thought. He then kissed me on the cheek.

"Hey how was your day?" I asked him while he handed my sunglasses back to me. He looked at me, and then looked away. I looked at the others for an explanation to his behavior but they shrugged just as unsure as I was. I leaned over, making the distance from my lips and his ear minimal then whispered.

"I can't whatever it is better if I don't know what it is Tony. Please tell me." I whispered into his ear then kissed it. I heard his heart speed up and I stifled a laugh. He frowned then looked at me. I moved back then let him speak.

"My parents said that if I don't pass the Trig final that I can't go to Ocean City with you guys… and…" He stopped, grimacing slightly. I looked at him, indicating him to go on. "That and I won't be able to see you anymore." He whispered slightly angered. I was shocked. Tony's parents usually didn't give a shit about his grades.

"That's okay," I said while hugging one of my knees on the booth's seat. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, especially Tony. "Because you are not going to fail." I told him.

"Nikki, I am not smart like you. There is no way on earth I could pass that final." He told me. I smiled lightly then was struck with an idea.

"What if I tutor you? Yeah, that's a good idea." I said thinking aloud. "I am going to tutor you. Hacuna Matata chico. No worries. I'll get you to pass if it's the last thing I do." I told him. He smiled.

"Fine, but the day you get me to pass is the day I believe in the monster in my closet." He joked. I laughed lightly, then grimaced.

"That day may be sooner than you think." I mumbled to myself.

**Vampire Note #7**

**I knew one day my life as a vampire would affect the lives of the ones around me and I dreaded the day I had to tell them about my… problem. I also knew that because of my not aging, well I'm not supposed to be aging but I have been, people will begin to notice and it will cause trouble for me. Leaving my family and friends seems so… unreal but I know one day it is going to happen and I am dreading the day. I don't even know where I would go or what I would do. My future is approaching me quickly and I'm no where near ready.**

We spent the night talking about our days and our teachers. Everyone ate except me (I had told them I had eaten at home) and enjoyed themselves. They ate and we talked until about eleven when the diner told us they wanted to close up, so we all went out to the cars. Emily and her boyfriend, Craig, left in her car, and Layla and her boyfriend (my best guy friend) Daemon, left in his car.

I placed my sunglasses back on and walked to my car door. I went to open it but it was shut seconds after. I turned around to see who had closed it, though knowing who it was, I wasn't expecting Tony to crash his lips down on mine and pull me tight to him. I kissed him back gently so that I didn't accidentally hurt him and focused on controlling the part of me that thirsted for his blood. He then placed one hand on my neck and one around my waist. This usually was the point where I would pull away from him in fear of losing control but surprisingly I didn't feel like I could have hurt him if I wanted to. Then, feeling secure, I placed both of my hands behind his neck, pulling him closer to me while he backed me into my car, pressing me to it lightly then pressing his waist to mine. I smirked under his kiss as I enjoyed his warmth against my cold body. We kissed until I was at the point where I feared that I would get carried away and Tony was out of breath.

"What was that for?" I asked him pretending to be out of breath as well.

"Well, it was mostly for me, but it's also for being the best girlfriend a guy could have ever asked for. You are amazing you know that." He said smiling the whole time he said it.

I hugged him tightly. "Not half as amazing as you think." I grumbled under my breath. I noticed I was doing a lot of that lately. "I need to get home, my parents will be home soon and I have to make like I had been there this whole time. Drive carefully." I said then pecked him on the cheek then got into the car. "Bye" I said, then drove away.

I drove home in silence and at break neck speed. I made it home at eleven thirty-five and parked the car in the garage making it look like it never left. Then, I walked into the house lazily finding my brothers hadn't moved from the couch and their eyes were still glued to the screen.

"Everything go alright?" I asked them. With my brothers you could never know if they had actually lied believably because they were so bad at it.

"Yeah she didn't suspect a thing. She just called again and said she'll be here in five minutes so you might want to change." Matt said. I thanked him then ran up to my room. It was usually dark but seeing as though it was almost midnight and it was a black room, it was pitch black, just the way I liked it.

I took my sunglasses off and I could see as though the lights were on with my vampire sight so I quickly grabbed the soccer shorts and the old Beatles shirt that was lying on the bed then went into the bathroom to change and scrub off my make-up. After doing so I reentered the room and threw the clothes into the closet, not thinking twice about hanging them up or throwing them in the hamper, then plopped down onto my bed. Sometimes I found it so useless to have a bed, but other times, like this for instance, I was glad to have one. Being physically unable to sleep I pressed play on my ihome, closed my eyes, and got lost in the music.

After a few songs I heard my mom drive into the driveway, come in the house, talk to my brothers for a few minutes, then come upstairs. I clicked off my music then pretended like I had so many times before, to be asleep. She walked in as silently as she could, which was loud for my hearing, flicked the light on low, which made me flinch and then tripped slightly over her foot. I stifled a laugh.

"_Why is it always so dark in here? Ah she is so beautiful. I am so lucky to have a daughter like her, so responsible."_ She thought then leaned over and kissed my cheek. I felt a little guilty disobeying her, but didn't let it get to me. _"Wow her skin is always so cold. Shit, its twelve thirty,"_ She thought slightly panicky. "Good night my love." She said then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Good Night Mom" I said as I reached over the put the music back on and then I did what I did every night. Wait.


	3. Chapter 2 Hookey

**CHAPTER TWO HOOKEY**

The hours passed slowly, maybe even slower than usual, I couldn't tell, but by the time the sun started to peak over the horizon, I was unable to sit still anymore so, I got up and shut the music. I stretched unnecessarily then walked over to where I kept the weights. I picked up two thirty lb. weights then began to lift them, not that it did anything to my strength, and it was just something to do. I continued to lift weights until it was six thirty, and then I jumped into the shower until seven, taking extra long just to waist time.

I went back into my room, over to the closet, picked out a pair of jeans, a studded belt, a The Higher shirt, and black Adidas indoor soccer shoes. I got dressed then put on my make-up on with the mirror hanging on my wall by the door. By seven forty my bag was packed and I was ready to go to school. I said goodbye to my family then jumped into my car and went to pick up Layla.

Layla, being Layla, was always late no matter what the occasion, which drove me and Emily crazy. We usually joked about how she would end up being late to her own wedding. Eventually, she got into the car looking zombie like then pressed play on my CD player. She was wearing her signature super skinny pants, vans high tops, a tight white shirt complementing her figure, and a tight black and while skull hoodie. She sang along softly under her breath until we got to Emily's house.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #8**

**Emily was a morning person. This was possibly her most annoying trait. It bothered us both immensely, but I learned to get used to the annoying things humans do, so it just made me laugh when I had Layla and Emily in the same place in the morning.**

**___________________________________________________**

"Good morning everybody! How did you sleep?" Emily asked.

"Didn't." Layla answered. "And if you don't mind I would like to get some on the way so school before we get to- ah shit." She said.

"We have Music Appreciation today don't we." I said stating the obvious. "We can skip if you want to. I don't want to go any more than you do. If we get caught we can say that we had car troubles. You want to do that?" I asked her. She perked up immediately then nodded vigorously. "Ok cool." I said.

"Well drop me off first before you cut. I am going to go to MA. I don't understand why you guys hate it, its kind of fun after a while." Emily said, still perky.

"Well we hate it; Mr. Monotone changes moods like an overly hormonal pregnant woman. I can't believe I took it." Layla told her. I laughed and pulled up to the school entrance for the juniors.

"Get out quick Em, before we get caught. See you second period." I said. She jumped out quickly then I drove on before someone recognized us.

"Sometimes she is such a prep." Layla said as I drove down the road at a decently slow (for me) speed.

"I know but she is funny and she is an amazing writer. She is the key to Flames for Fury and you know it. She is also our best friend since, like, fifth grade." I told her.

"Speaking of which, are we going to get to practice before we go to the festival?" She asked me.

"No we aren't and we don't need to. We'll be okay. I can't wait to go. This is going to be so much fun!" I squealed girly. She laughed then took out the matching skull clip in her hair and placed it back in a different spot. She did so several times then I interrupted her.

"Were not going to get caught ok? So stop fidgeting, it's agitating me." I told her. She looked at me funny.

"How did you know I am worried about getting caught?" She asked me. I laughed.

"Those Jr. FBI Training classes didn't go by without teaching me something about reading facial expressions/habits." _And it also helps that I can read minds_; I finished the sentence in my head. She made a face at me then stared out the window.

"So where are we going?" She asked me. I shrugged. It was eight forty and chorus didn't end until nine thirty.

"I think it would be best if we go back to my house and chill until first period is ten minutes to over. Then well go and put our stuff in out lockers and go to ugh" I sighed then finished with a grimace. "English." I groaned. Layla moaned too.

"Can't we skip that too?" She begged. I nodded no.

"No we can't pull the same lie for that long, besides you never go to that class, I don't even think Ms. Stein knows your name." I told her. She stuck her tongue out at me then went back to staring out the window. When we got to my house we got out of the car, went into the house, then I plopped onto the couch.

"Got any soda?" She asked as she went into the kitchen.

"Fridge" I replied.

"Want any?" She yelled over the TV I had just put on.

"Nope." I told her then flicked until I found some music videos that weren't rap or hip-hop. She came back in, soda in hand, then sat on the couch and drank. "So how did your date go?" I asked her. She looked confused.

"Oh you mean the one on Wednesday." She figured out, "It went well. We saw Ghost Rider. Great movie, you would love it, you should go see it with Tony." She said, there was a long pause in our conversation as we watched Kevin Rudolf and Lil' Wayne on screen "Hey, did you start looking at colleges yet?" She asked me.

"Yeah I did. I either want to go to University of Denver, New Haven, MA or GW. Somewhere cold, no doubt." I told her. She took another sip of Sprite then nodded attentively. "But I really want to go to New Haven" I said. "What about you?" I asked her.

"I haven't thought about it too much but Dartmouth would be great. I kind of want to go to the same college as Daemon though and he doesn't know where he wants to go." She told me.

"Did you try to sell him to Dartmouth yet?" I asked her. She nodded no then looked at the screen. I mimicked the action then scowled. They were trash talking good bands like Paramore, The Cab and others we happened to like. She reached over to the remote control then changed the channel to America's Next Top Model.

"I love watching this. These models are so bitchy." Layla said then chugged the remaining of her soda. I nodded in agreement. "No I haven't yet. Is Tony going to follow you to college?" she asked me. I shrugged.

"I don't know. He says he isn't smart enough to get in anywhere, but I am making him apply to where I am going to show him that he can make it in." I told her. "You're lucky you know, at least Daemon gets great grades so you don't have to worry about not getting into a specific college. Tony and I on the other hand…" She shrugged. I checked the clock. It was nine fifteen. "Its time to go. Grab your stuff." I said then grabbed my own stuff, including my sunglasses which I had accidentally left at home earlier. We got to school in just enough time for me to go and find Tony (his first period was a free one).

"Ok. I'll meet you in English. I want to find Tony and tell him he has to meet me at my house after school." I told Layla as we walked down one of the long hallways of THS.

"Mmk. Don't be late it would ruin the whole story." Layla advised me then went into the stairway door. I ran up the stairs, (At a human pace) as the bell rang dismissing the other students. I ran up to one of the three art rooms (where Tonyt usually hangs out during his free periods) to find Tony talking to Andrew.

"Hey." I said while walking up to them. They stopped the conversation they were having then looked in different directions suspiciously. I let it go and just went on. "You," I said pointing at Tony "Meet me at my house after school, 3:35, don't be late, and don't bring anyone with you." I said to him, smiled, and then walked back down the hallway.

As I did so I heard Tony and Andrew begin to talk "Dude! Your def. getting laid tonite!" Andrew said rather loudly.

"Shut the fuck up Andrew! She has ears!" Tony yelled back at him. I laughed then ran down the stairway and into the English room right as the bell rang. I smiled at my accuracy then took my seat next to Layla and this girl whose name escaped me. As I took my sunglasses off Layla gave me a look that said 'next time don't cut it too close' then looked up at the teacher.

"Alright class. One, Two, Three, eyes on me!" She said as if speaking to toddlers instead of a group of intelligent juniors. I rolled my eyes then looked across the room to find Emily doing the same. "Today we are going to work in groups and write a short story. Make sure it has a moral and is a least two pages long." She said then went to the computer on her desk and began tapping away at the keyboard. Layla and Emily had moved into the empty seats around me then plopped their books on the desks, Layla's falling onto the floor.

"Spaz." I said then pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.

Once the class was ten minutes to over we had finished and were now working on a new song. Our progress was minimal seeing as though it usually took us months to write something new, but it was something. The bell finally rang and we handed the teacher the finished story then booked out of the room as fast as possible (again me at a human pace).

"I really hate her." Emily said as we walked out of the room. I nodded my head only half listening. I was staring down the hallway intently, looking at an unfamiliar face. He was a tall, fit looking man wearing a black overcoat and caki casual pants. His presence made the hallway slightly cooler and people tended to shrug away from him as if he were infexious. He was wearing dark sun glasses, even though it was not sunny and he was as pale as I was. He gave me an uneasy feeling so I kept on my guard. He stared intently at me as if we were the only people in the hallway. I turned around to see if he was staring at someone else but found no one. Once I turned back around he had disappeared into thin air

"Hello? Earth to Nikki? What's wrong with you?" said the voice next to me. I was still scanning the hallway worried that that man, wasn't a man at all. As I was staring I didn't notice that Tony, Craig and Daemon had joined our little circle. They too were staring at me wondering what was wrong with me. Then, catching me completely off guard, Tony walked up behind me, spun me around then kissed me deeply.

There was an itchy/fiery sensation at the back of my throat and I was suddenly over come with the urge to kill everyone around me. I began to calculate how long it would take me to finish off this first hallway, then the next and the next.

"_Have the sweet smelling one for first, or maybe last, pending on how long I could hold it." _The monster chimed into my thoughts.

The feeling was so strong that when I began to gain some sense back into my body I pulled away from Tony and walked off as fast as possible, without drawing too much attention to myself. I held my breath then walked into the nearest stairwell, which was luckily empty and sunk to the ground. Then to make matters worse, small flame appeared at the tip of the fingers on my left hand. I quickly controlled it so I didn't burn everything around me down, but still felt the lust at the back of my throat.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Craig ask from down the hall.

_"Go ahead, kill them all. They mean nothing to you. They are worthless blood sacks and were created for you to eat. Go. Feast. There everywhere. Just pick one up and satisfy your thirst. You know you want to."_ The monster whispered.

I was disgusted with myself for even thinking about killing people. They were innocent. They didn't do anything to deserve a horrible fate such as being my meal. No one or thing deserved a fate as horrible as that.

"_You're a horrible person. Horrible."_ The monster told me.

"I know." I replied to it aloud. "I know…" Then, to my dismay, the bell rang warning me that I had two minutes to control myself and get to my next class. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I was sure my eyes were still black but I felt better about being around humans as long as they didn't get to close, and most didn't anyway.

___________________________________________________

Vampire Note #9

Most humans have the common sense to see that I am dangerous. It's a vampire thing. Humans generally are repeled by us, like we are aliens. It was just my weird friends who didn't get that feeling that they should stay away from me. I am still debating whether or not that's a good thing.

"Are you that bad of a kisser Tony?" Layla joked trying to lighten up the atmosphere. They had entered the hallway and I ran up the stairs before they saw me. I just continued on to my next class, holding my breath. I turned my head slightly to see Tony staring at me with a hurt/confused expression on his face. I wanted to say I was sorry to him but feared to get a whiff of his sent again.

I walked into the Trig room and took my seat immediately looking down at my notebook, taking an occasional note from the teachers mind, but otherwise ignoring her. The rest of the day went on like that, taking quick notes, switching classes as fast as possible and avoiding my friends. Eventually, the day was over and I was rushing out of the classroom to my locker at record speed. I gathered my things in my backpack then bolted out of the building to the student parking lot and drove home in record speed.

Once I was home I ran to my room. There was something I had to do. Something I only did when I had really messed up and needed a kick back into place. I ran downstairs and into the kitchen, pulling out a six-pack of Red Bull. I sighed "You deserve this Nik. It's your fault and now you have to pay the price." I said to myself then opened the first can and chugged it in one gulp. Then came the pain. It felt like I was transforming all over again but a whole lot worse. My insides burned and a slight moan escaped my mouth.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampie NOTE #10**

**The only reason the Red Bull had this affect on me was because when you are turned anytime you eat or drink human food it tastes like the last thing you ate/drank as a human. Ironically, the last thing I ate before I was turned was a garlic clove. So being what I was garlic caused a severe amount of burning so painful it was like death all over again. Now, you might ask, why Red Bull? The reason is because when I was a human I used to drink at least 5 Red Bull's a day, so, to attain some normalcy I use it whenever I need to punish myself. Drinking Red Bull was the only way to set me back in my place, it was my own form of self-inflicted torture. **

**___________________________________________________**

After chugging three more cans of Red Bull I heard the front door open. As I recognized the soft lingering foot steps I stiffened.

"Nikki?" Tony's rugged voice called from the living room. He paused for a minute, expecting a response. I began contemplating my options. I could run out the back door and deal with him later, or deal with him now. I decided it was now or never. I quickly began to think up answers that are close to the truth to the questions running through his head. "There you are." He said then walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." I said testing my ability to be around him. It was not nearly as hard as before, but still, I wasn't going to take my chances. I had to speak as little as possible though, to save myself the agony and Tony a possibly horrible fate.

"What happened back there?" He asked me while dropping his backpack on the floor and leaning against the counter. I sighed and he folded his arms against his chest. I stared at his arms. For a seventeen year old, he was extremely built. I slowly admired the tattoo on the inside of his wrist. It was a griffin, also known as the bird of wisdom in many cultures. After I was through admiring it I let my eyes move slowly up his arms to his bulky but not body builder muscles. Then I looked at the other arm. He wore a leather, studded bracelet and our signature bracelets on the un-tattooed arm. I slowly let my eyes wander up to his face, not knowing what to expect. His face was hard, not showing much emotion other than impatience.

"Don't take it personally sweetie ok, you just… I don't know, scared me." I said to him, which was partially true. He looked momentarily confused, and then regained his composure.

"I scared you?" He said questionably. I nodded. He didn't believe me. "Look if you don't want to go out with me anymore, all you have to do is tell me. There was no need to embarrass me in front of our friends and pretend to like me anymore. There is no sense in lying." He said. I stared at him, not believing what he had just said.

"You can't possible think that." _I would know_, I said, saying the last part to myself. But he was; only what came out of hid mouth wasn't nearly as bad as what he was thinking. "Why do you do that? Why do you assume that I don't like you anymore and want to break up? I don't and I won't." I told him truthfully. He had shocked me. That was something I had never expected from him, ever. I jumped up onto the counter and sat there, dumbfounded.

"Gee, well, when your girlfriend pulls away from your kiss and then stalks away, and then avoids you for the rest of the day, your relationship is going just swell!" He said painfully sarcastic. I frowned, he was overreacting. "If you have nothing else to say I'll go and never talk to you again, since that seems to be what you want." He said then turned around to walk out of the kitchen.

"Stop." I said to him after a moment. "I am not talking… because I can't get over what you just said. I don't want to break up with you. I can't believe you even thought that. I don't think I ever _could_ break up with you. Look, I walked away from you because you caught me off guard. I…There…Look there is something I have to tell you." I told him. He stopped, turned around, and then looked at me skeptically, eyes showing his pain. I sighed again.

"Down the hallway this morning there was a man. I had seen the man before. Around my neighborhood, around school, at the library, near the diner, and more places I've been lately. I think he's has been following me and I don't know why… and I might not want to. I am scared ok and I was watching what he was doing. He was there, at school, staring at me and then you came and kissed me. Then when I pulled away I walked off because I was trying to see where he was going so I went into the stairway and when I got there he was gone." I told him. "Then I sort of freaked out for awhile in the hallway and I avoided everyone else so I didn't have to explain this to them and get them all worried about me" I explained.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #11**

**The truth was I really wasn't sure what that man wanted but he was familiar and maybe he would be able to tell me who did this to me and why. I was lying only somewhat but he wouldn't notice. Now I had to prove to him I needed him, I just hoped I could. ___________________________________________________**

"I don't believe you" He told me.

"Really?" I questioned him. I was thinking about proving it to him but was still unsure. He began to walk out again so I decided I had to prove it. I jumped down from the counter (loudly so that he could hear it) then walked over to him. He heard me jump down and turned around with a very impatient look on his face.

"What-"He began to say but I slid my arms up his torso and around his neck. He looked at me, eyes flat and serious. I smiled back lightly then moved closer. Finally I saw his mouth twitch into a small half-smile. I took his smile as an 'ok' and kissed him on the lips with more passion than I had ever before. He was surprised and didn't expect it, but he took advantage of the moment and placed an arm around my waist and the other on the back of my neck holding me there and showing no intention of moving.

I played with his hair slightly as his lips moved with mine gently. I smiled, having no feeling of temptation at all. I felt his tongue graze my lips but I wouldn't open my mouth, fearing he would hit a canine and be injected with venom. I pulled away slightly letting him know I didn't want to do that, though really craving it. He seemed slightly aggravated then broke away for a breath.

Before I had a chance to breathe, not that I needed to, he crashed his lips onto mine again and slid his arm up my back, sending shivers down my spine. He then pushed me backwards as far as possible, with a lot more force than he intended and lifted me onto the counter, standing in-between my legs and kissing me roughly, just the way I liked it. I smiled under his kiss then moved my hand to the back of his neck and pushed him closer to me.

Then, making both of is jump slightly the phone rang. I began to break away and move but Tony lifted me off the counter, my legs still locked to his waist and walked us over to the phone lips still locked. I broke away from him for a moment, though still in the same position and checked the caller ID. It was my mother. I jumped down from him then put my finger to his lips.

"Hi mom." I said with slight dread in my voice. Tony noticed then started laughing. I smiled then put my finger to my lips indicating him to be quiet.

"Hi sweetie. Is there someone there? You know I don't like you having people over, especially boys." My mother spoke into the phone. I smiled as he began kissing my neck, as if to spite my mother without her even knowing and making me slightly incapable of functioning. I waved him off grudgingly, then answered.

"No mom. I'm alone. What's up?" I asked her while smiling at Tony. Tony, being the stupid jackass he is, came up behind me and started kissing my neck and nibbling on the ear that wasn't connected to the phone.

"Oh nothing I was just checking on you. I am going to be home around seven. Oh your father is coming home around the same time as me so maybe we'll go out to dinner, pending on how your brother's day was. See you in a bit. I Love you. Bye" She said.

"Love you too. Bye" I said back.

"What time is she going to be home?" Tony asked.

"Around seven. Why?' I asked him.

"Just wondering how long we get to do that before I have to book." Tony said then smiled. "Now…where were we?" He said. I smiled back at him then he came back over to me and placed his hand on my lower back then started kissing my neck and up my ear. I let him have his fun for a minute but it was already four thirty and I needed to be tutoring him in Trig, not kissing him.

"Tony," I said as he kissed the nape of my neck. "Sweetie, you need to-"He cut me off then began to kiss me again. "…hit the books." I told him while breaking away from him. He sighed then threw me on his back and grabbed his backpack on his way out of the kitchen. I sat down on the floor facing Tony who had placed his Trig books on the ottoman and I started to explain.


	4. Chapter 3 You What!

**CHAPTER THREE YOU WHAT?!!!**

"Excuse me!" I yelled into Tony's face. He frowned then looked down at his feet. "We worked so hard! I don't believe it, let me see it!" I said then grabbed the paper out of Tony's hand. There was a number in big bold red pen at the top of the page. 68 it read. I was furious. Then I felt my hand get extremely hot and a small flame appearing on my thumb. I quickly controlled it, then went back to being in a controlled fury. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I should have been supportive. I'm the worst, sorry." I said then hugged him lightly. He hugged me gently back then walked out to his car. He had driven over to my house the day before we were supposed to leave tell me the bad news.

"Wait!" I yelled after him. He paused then turned around. "Have a good week and remember I'm just a phone call away." I said then kissed him on the lips for a few seconds.

"Bye." He said sadly.

"Bye." I said in the same monotone. I was now debating on whether or not I should go, but figured I had to go because the reservations were made and paid for under my name. I moseyed back into my house then into my room where my mom was starting to pack my cloths.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #12**

**So my vacation was still on, and it didn't feel like it. I felt like it wasn't worth it anymore. My parents didn't even know he was going in the first place, in fact none of the parents knew the boys were going and probably wouldn't let us go if they did. Now I would be the only one without a boyfriend or girlfriend to be with. Its just like eighth grade again, that was a bad year.**

**___________________________________________________**

"I can't believe you're going away! My baby is growing up so fast" She said as I entered my room and dropped the shirt she was folding to hug me. I patted her on the back as if saying 'ok please get off me'. She took the hint then picked up the shirt, folded it and placed it on the suitcase on my bed.

"Well mom this is more like practice for when I go to college, so don't miss me too much." I told her hiding my sadness. She smiled then her cell phone rang. She spoke into the phone quietly. When she was finished she frowned.

"I'm so sorry sweetie; I have to go back to the hospital. A client of mine is there and the nurse thinks she is going into labor soon so I have to go. I love you so. If I don't see you before you leave I love you and be careful. Be safe. No drugs/illegal substances, oh and honey?" She asked me.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Don't do anything you might… regret later on." She said to me sternly yet kindly. I nodded then grimaced. Not like I could do that anyway. I thought to myself. My mother never seemed to miss an opportunity to tell me how many pregnant teenagers she sees and how many of them don't know who the father is. It usually ticked me off that was was comparing me to those stupid sluts but this time it just depressed me.

She kissed me on the cheek then left. I finished packing then moved the suitcase to the hallway, then packed my entertainment bag. I packed my ipod, a few books, nail polish, head phones, my over the summer homework, a notebook and a pen. And then, I waited. When seven 'o'clock came I grabbed my things and went downstairs. I was to drive us down to Ocean city so I had to make sure the car had gas and that everything was ok. I walked out the door, locking it once outside, and then went into the garage. I decided that this being a long trip and there being a lot of us fitting into one car that we would take my other car. My newer car was small, so fitting six girls was a squeeze. I placed my bag into the trunk, got into the drivers seat, putting my sunglasses on and drove to Layla's house.

"Hey come on lets go I want to hit the road before eight and we still have to pick up everyone else!" I yelled to Layla who was struggling to put her bags in the trunk of my black Nissan Atlima with tinted windows and moon roof.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'. Oh, were taking the pretty car!" She yelled as she shut the trunk and got into the passengers seat.

"Bad morning to you, and yes we are." I said to her.

"Bad morning to you as well my friend, did you have a bad sleep?" She asked me, I laughed as my answer.

"You?" I asked. She smiled lightly then hit the button for the radio. She fooled around for a few stations until she found a decent one (AKA the only one that wasn't playing rap). At seven thirty we pulled up to Emily's house to find her outside on her porch and saying goodbye to her mom and dad.

She put her bags in the trunk then the second she got in I jetted off down the street and picked up Hilary, Cathleen and Angela. After everyone was packed into the car I got onto the highway and drove at my normal pace, which was extremely fast for a human. Once we were on the highway I heard a voice.

_"Just because you can't die in a car crash doesn't mean that they can't. Slow down!"_ The voice said. I looked around and checked every ones thoughts to make sure it wasn't one of them who thought or said it.

_"She needs to slow down!"_ They were all thinking in some form. I then was satisfied that it wasn't them then brought my attention back to the road. We had been driving for only an hour and I was about to miss the first exit. I swerved into the right lane then cut off a few cars.

"_Jeez what's with her is like normally the best driver in the world?"_ Someone thought. I smiled.

_"It must be that Tony isn't coming. Oh well she needs to suck it up before she kills us, or more importantly, me."_ someone thought. I knew who it was. It was Hilary, she was such a bitch.

The car ride was quiet for the most part, other than the blasting pop 'music' that Hilary and Angela insisted on having on. When we finally pulled into the parking lot of the hotel I shut off the radio as fast as I could then get out of the car. The sun was really bright (at least for me) so I help my hand above my sunglasses. I pretended to stretch for a moment then pulled everyone's luggage and set it down on the pavement.

"Hey careful, there's expensive stuff in there, not that you know what it is like to have something valuable." Hilary said in her usual stuck up voice. I was about to retort to her ridiculous remark but a restraining hand was laid on my shoulder. It was Daemon.

"No need to fight already ladies. Now go get settled and shit then tomorrow we'll all meet at mall in the food court at say 11?" Daemon said. I gave him a death glare then nodded. Daemon and I were like brother and sister. We fought, we laughed, we cried (figuratively for me that is), everything, so when he asked me to so something, I did it.

We headed up to the desk where the stupid desk clerk hit on me until we were finally given our rooms. Layla, Emily and I were sharing the room that I had insisted on paying for. It was a presidential suite so we had a long elevator ride up. When we finally reached the eleventh floor we walked out the elevator and down the hallway where the bellhop opened our door for us and placed the luggage in the center of the room. Layla pulled out her wallet and tipped him nicely. He smiled then left us to unpack.

We unpacked, me taking all night just to have something to do and I let the girls sleep in until about nine. At ten thirty Emily and I were showered, dressed, made up and ready to go, where Layla was still in bed snoring quite loudly. After her third warning I picked up the ice bucket from the desk and walked over to her bed.

"Layla open your eyes." I said in an overly sweet voice that scared Layla, because I never talked that way. She opened her eyes slightly then they went wide as I dumped the bucket of ice onto her bed. She yelled and cursed in several different languages, then got ready for the day. When she was finally finished we left the room and drove to the mall. Once we got there we looked at the directory for the food court then walked up there.

"How did Angela, Cathleen and Hilary get here when we had the car?" Layla asked. I shrugged then continued on,

"They rented a car for the week so it's just the three of us in your car." Emily told us we nodded then spotted our group the Starbucks.

"Can we go to Hot Topic? I want some sneakers." I asked them. Hilary, her boyfriend Andrew, Angela and her boyfriend Charlie and Cathleen and her boyfriend Ricardo groaned where Layla, Daemon, Emily, and Craig smiled and agreed. We won the argument and thry walked ahead of the others. I walked slightly behind the whole group observing my surroundings. It was a nice mall but all the people looked the same because they were all wearing Abercrombie, so we stood out a bit, at least Flames for Fury did. We entered the hot topic and it was absolutely deserted, other than the three employees.

I ended up finding a pair of black and red checkered vans, a black Harry Potter pull over hoodie and a hoodie that was a ribcage and a heart on the front and back. I bought them then went outside to join the others who had finished shopping way before me. We went to a few more stores where I bought nothing then we stopped to eat lunch.

On our way to getting a table in the food court I sensed something behind me and turned around, but nothing was there. Then, I felt it again. I turned back around but agaun, nothing. I was about to sit down at a table but felt the same feeling again then turned around again, still nothing. I faced forward again and decided I was going insane. Before I sat down I was pulled backwards by the waist and twirled around. I was confused and was about to ask what the hell was going on when I saw him.

"Hello." Tony's cool minty breath breathed on my face. I smiled a toothy grin, cainines and all. He smiled the same, only it didn't look as scary as mine. He then placed his other arm around my waist and leaned down. I reached up and kissed him on his sweet lips long enough to mean it but not enough to draw too much attention. We broke apart then sat down, me on his lap. Everyone said there hellos and ate.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I said to Tony quietly.

"Haha well lets just say I got you bad." Tony said. I was not confused.

"Explain porfavor." I told him

"I got Mrs. Karter to copy my test and write a 68 on one paper and an 86, my actual grade, on the other so that I could surprise you." He said simply. I hit him.

"You jerk! I was so upset you weren't coming I had half a mind not to go!" I yelled at him, making him think I was mad. His face fell and he looked ashamed of himself. This made me laugh.

"What?" He said, and then realized I was joking with him. "Ugh, you're such a bitch." He stated.

"Don't I know it! Hey, how did you get Mrs. Karter to do that anyhow?" I asked.

"Well apparently she is a sucker for surprises. I told her about my plan and she said it was a cute idea and she was glad to help. Who know the old batlady had a heart right?" He said. I smiled that he went through all that trouble just to surprise me.

"Well, im just glad you're here." I said truthfully.

"Well im glad to be here" He replied. We sat quietly for a while, listening to a debate between Daemon, Andrew, and Charlie about some stupid sports team, and then eventually Craig broke them up.

"Okay guys, lets just live and let live alright? Anyway, I'm tired of shopping guys, lets ditch." Craig said. All the girls looked at him like he was crazy, where as the guys were happy that someone had said it.

"Look, five hours of shopping is enough for all of us so us guys are going to go and do guyish things. We'll meet you all at Southcitys at sevenish so be there. Bye." Andrew said then kissed Hilary then left with the other guys. The girls were dumbfounded.

"Where are they going?" Angela asked.

"I don't know." Cathleen answered,

"Whatever." I said. "I'm tied of shopping too. I have to run an errand, someone want to come with me?" I asked. Angela volunteered so I lead us out to the car then got in and drove to the boardwalk.


	5. Chapter 4 Tattoos and Bad Girls

**CHAPTER FOUR TATTOOS AND BAD GIRLS**

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Angela asked me for the eleventh time. "They're permanent you know" she sighed realizing I wasn't going to change my mind.

"Ang. What are you so worried about?" I asked her in an annoyed tone.

"Your parents Nikki, what will they think? You already have that ring of fire on your ankle, which im surprised they haven't seen, but there bound to notice some time, Nik, whats the point! Besides, isn't one enough?" she asked though knowing the answer.

"When they find out it will be too late to fix. I've had that tattoo on my ankle for like, two years and they never noticed; besides my mom would rather spend the money on my brothers than tattoo removal. And my dad, he's so busy with his job that he wouldn't even notice if I had two heads!" I exclaimed trying to end the conversation by walking away from the wall of tattoos and to the end of the extremely long line. But knowing Angela she wouldn't give up so easily.

"But Nik I-"She started but I cut her off.

"But what Ang? Why did you come with me? Why didn't you go cloths shopping with the girls, or go help the boys do what ever they were doing? I could have come alone you know I'm not a baby. I know what I'm doing," I told her. She still didn't listen.

"You asked me to come with you!" She exclaimed. "And you already have one and it was painful for me to watch, weather or not it was painful for you I don't know and I don't care but please, for me, just don't do it. I didn't go shopping because I spent enough money already and we've only been here for a day and unlike you I can't just throw money away. And I didn't go with the boys because they wouldn't let us come with them. So there's your answer to that. But seriously, when are you going to get out of this troubled teen stage I mean seriously your seventeen, give it a rest already." She argued back.

"You think I am doing this because I'm a 'troubled teen'?" I said making airquotes with my hands "Wow Ang I thought you knew me better than that." I scoffed "You sound like my mother"

"This isn't the only thing you have done that's crazy lately Nik. You got your nose and the tops of your ears pierced. Next thing you know you're gonna be pregnant with Tony's baby!" She yelled so loudly that the whole tattoo shop and all its customers were staring at Angela and I, but I was too mad to care.

"Wow is that what you think? A skank? Thanks Ang, that says a lot for our friendship" I replied just as loud, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No I just meant that you are being reckless and have been so ever since we got here. Look I know your grandpa just died," I cringed at the memory, but it went unnoticed "and I know life's been rough on you lately, but seriously, is the Ocean City sun getting to you?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood. It hadn't been sunny yet, to my luck. I was really pissed that's she had brought my grandfather into this, I was still very touchy on the subject.

"Alright you know what fine I won't get it okay! Are you happy now?!" I yelled and walked out the shop and onto the boardwalk, all eyes still on us. I walked quickly so she couldn't match my pace. She strutted a few steps behind me in silence.

"Where are we going?" she asked me quietly.

"Andrew told the others to be at SouthCity's by seven, remember?" I replied curtly.

"Ew. Why there?" She asked with a look of disgust on her face.

"It was Andrew's choice on where we ate tonight" I pulled the door open to the diner and held it for Angela.

"Thanks" She mumbled and went up to the bleach blonde wearing way too much makeup, manning the counter.

"What do you want?" She said as she looked at me up and down quickly sneering in disgust, and in a nasally, rude tone.

_"What ugly bitches."_ She thought. I was about to reply something nasty when Angela took over, ignoring the woman's lack of manners and adding her own sugary sweetness.

"Yes. We are part of a bigger party that might have come in already"

"Name?" she said in her nasally voice.

"Andrew Caperero" Ang said.

"Right this way" she said as she lead us to a large booth in the center of the diner. The tall and also fake blonde waitress was taking the drink orders and flirting with Tony shamelessly when we reached the table.

"You know I get off at ten tonight, maybe we could go to that big party in Wildwood tonight?" she said, attempting to pick up Tony. She bent down to pick up some invisible dust from the table, making sure her cleavage was exposed to the point of falling out, and then rose up slowly. Tony didn't seem to notice, I smiled slightly.

"I'll have a club soda, no lemon please." I said as I slid into the booth next to Tony. He put his arm around my shoulders and I kissed him on the cheek just to rub it in. I had been nicer than usual about her flirting only because I was still to pissed at Angela to deal with another bitch.

"Hey babe, what took you guys so long?" He asked noticing the tension between Angela and me. The waitress had moved on to taking Angela's order then left in a huff to fill them.

"It's a long story" I mumbled.

"Hey Nikki, look what I bought!" Layla exclaimed. She ducked under Daemon's arm and under the table for a moment and rose with a bag from a boutique with a few French words I couldn't make out on it. She pulled out what look like a black lacey shoelace with sculls on it. I leaned closer and realized what it was.

"Damn it Layla, we didn't need to see that we're just about to eat!" I exclaimed while holding my hand up blocking my view jokingly. I directed my glance on Angela who was gazing longingly at the piece of lingere. Then everyone began to laugh.

"Who's the skank now Angela?" I laughed maniacally. Everyone around us stared including my friends. Angela blushed wildly, but remained silent.

"What are we missing here?" Daemon asked while chuckling at Angela's blush. There were chorus's of "Yeah I'd love to know" all around the table. Charlie scowled. He was so overprotective of her it was sick, but then again, all the boys were of there girls.

"So where is it this time?" Tony asked lifting up the back of my shirt, looking for a tattoo of some sort. I pawed him off.

"You act like I get them all the time like you!" I said half angry and half joking while pointing at his tattooed arm.

"Haha, I know. Besides, I knew you didn't get one because if you did, you would have been holding it in pain by now." He said "That was just an excuse to lift your shirt" He whispered into my ear softly and snaked his tattooed arm around my waist instead of my shoulders. I stifled a laugh; it probably wouldn't hurt me unless it was like a silver needle.

"Ugh, Pervert!" I laughed and elbowed him playfully in the side lightly.

"Ow!" he smiled while rubbing his side with his other hand, which ended up looking quite funny. I laughed lightly, hoping I didn't actually hurt him.

"Why do I always get the feeling I am always missing something?" Cathleen asked.

"Because most of the time you are honey" Ricardo laughed followed by the rest of the table. Cathleen scowled, and then hit him playfully. The waitress came, placed out drinks on the table, and took our orders quickly, avoiding my death glare and Craig's disinterest.

"So what happened that you two are so… at it" Hilary asked, making her presence known but continuing to file her nails in order to appear disinterested. I told everyone about the conversation Angela and I had in the tattoo shop. Once I was done everyone from Flames for Fury were glaring at Angela, where as everyone else, except Cathleen and Ricardo, were glaring at me. I smiled slightly.

"Why are you all staring at her? She's right you know." Charlie spoke in Angela's defense, knowing Angela wouldn't stick up for herself again.

"Aw. Come on Nik, that's not so bad." Ricardo said. I frowned.

"Well how about this. While were in there and she is scolding me she yells to the whole store and I quote 'this isn't the only thing you have done that's crazy lately Nik. You got your nose and the tops of your ears pierced. Next thing you know your gonna be pregnant with Tony's baby'" I said emphasizing then ending. Tony was blushing wildly but no one paid him any attention. Everyone else was now listening and looking at Angela and I.

"You know I don't understand why you even bother arguing with her Ang, she's not worth it" Hilary said suddenly gaining interest in the conversation.

"Look Hilary we all know your just here because Andrew is and there's no adults around to watch what you two do, so there's no need to make like you are having fun around us, but you could show a bit of respect for those-"He pretended to think for a moment "-better than you." Tony snapped back even before I could think of a comeback. I began to laugh hysterically along with him. Everyone except Andrew, Angela, Hilary and Charlie laughed until Daemon broke it up.

"All right all ready that's it everyone, no more fighting for the rest of the week okay! I did not sit in an over stuffed car with that pop garbadge blasting just to get here and see you two fight! Let forget about all this and set aside our differences until the week is over. Okay!" Daemon said with authority.

"Yeah fine" Tony sighed.

"Alright" Charlie said in relief

"Whatever" Hilary and Angela said at the same time.

"Thank you!" Emily said with relief as well.

"Finally" Craig said.

The rest of us didn't say anything and Daemon didn't expect us to. Layla and I were natural fighters and Cathleen and Ricardo had stopped listening after I was done with my recap of the tattoo store.

"So what did you guys do while the girls went shopping?" I asked Tony.

"You'll see love, you'll see" He replied.

"You guys act like it's a surprise we just-" Craig was cut off by ten hands flying up and covering his mouth"-uh woof mush fluffs mush"

"Now I'm a bit worried girls. How about you Nik what do you think they were doin'?" Emily asked me with a grin.

"I don't know Em, what do you think Lai?" I asked with the same sly grin.

"I don't know Nik, what do you think they were doin' Cath?" she said understanding the plan.

"I don't know Layla, what do you think they were doing Ang?" she asked grinning so hard it must have hurt.

"I don't know Em, what do you think Hill?" She sighed playing along.

"I don't know Ang, what do you think Andrew?" Hilary said.

"Oh we were-"

"NO!" the guys shouted again and threw there hands at Andrew's mouth.

"Wow guys, show some faith. I wasn't going to tell them. I was going to say something to get them off our tails but I guess you didn't want me to do that now did you?" He replied smugly.

"Aw come on, why wont you tell us?" Emily said with a pout and slid her fingers up and down Craig's arm seductively.

"Uh guys," He gulped "a little help here?" Craig said nervously.

"Girls, let it go let's just let them surprise us, just this once" Cathleen said optimistically.

"That's easy for you to say Em; you like surprises, I on the other hand hate them, they almost always end up badly" I told her remembering that a surprise was what leads me to be one of the eternally damned.

"Not this one I promise" Ricardo promised with sincerity. I turned my head to face Tony.

"Fine, but don't try anything funny or I'll kill you. That goes for all of you" I said after warning Tony. He laughed then began to eat.

We ate and laughed as Layla, Cathleen, and Emily told us about all the things they bought that day. I wasn't really listening, or eating, or even pretending to for that matter. I was just absent mindedly poking at the salad in front of me. I knew if I ate it it would taste like garlic, so I didn't even bother. I began to think about the tryouts Flames for Fury was to have later tonight at the super dome for the new band's festival at the end of the week.

"The acoustics are going to sound much more amazing in the dome than in the school auditorium." Tony said to me, as if reading my mind. I agreed then put my finger up to my lips, not wanting anyone to hear what we were saying.

"Is everyone done?" The waitress asked. We all nodded as she took our plates and placed the check on the table. Daemon reached for it but I hit his hand lightly.

"I got it, don't sweat it" I said and took it. I pulled out one of my six credit cards and placed it in the slot. Everyone was staring at me.

"Nik, you didn't have to do that." Angela said kindly but gratefully.

"Its no big deal, really, I don't mind at all. Oh and no one try to pay me back ok." I said sternly.

"You're too sweet." Tony said into my neck, giving me chills. I gently pushed him off.

"Not now Tony, later." I said blushing slightly, embarrassed. I didn't even think I could blush, having no blood and all, but somehow Tony made me do things I would have never have imagined possible. Someone had 'aww'd, but I didn't see who it was.

"Only if you'd keep that promise" He whispered suggestively in my ear. I smiled nervously.

"Enough you two, lets go I'm tired, I want to go to bed" Hilary said.

"Are you serious it's too early I'm-" Andrew cut Layla off by waving his hands indicating her to shut up.

"Why should she?" Emily said defensively. No one replied so I got up, got my card from the waitress and walked out the door followed by the others.

"Why are they going to bed now I'm not tired either." I whined not wanting to go back to the hotel this early, seeing as though I wasn't going to sleep and we had a few hours before we had to leave.

"Oh wow, maybe you all do need some sleep, that's slow even for you" Craig laughed as he put his arm around Emily's shoulders.

"What do you mean- Ohhhhhh" I said. "Hey, I can be dumb if I want, I'm blonde" I said like a stuck up rich kid.

"Sure you can babe" Tony said and put his hand in the back pocket of my black jeans. I mirrored his action and put mine in his blue ones.

"You can't say that anymore Nikki, you're like, blonde, black and red." Emily laughed.

"You're right. Maybe I do need some sleep" I chuckled.

"I'm hungry" Cathleen said.

"Cathy we just ate!" Ricardo exclaimed.

"I know, but I want candy!" she said.

"There's a candy store right here lets just go in, I could use some candy too, it's good to get high offa." Emily said while bouncing up and down.

"Ok fine but make it quick." I said. We into the nearby candy store and they bought what must have been three-hundred dollars worth of sweets then we walked the ten blocks back to the hotel, leaving our cars in the restaurant parking lot for the boys to go move later.

"I'll see you at eleven okay, be ready." Tony whispered into my ear and began to walk on with the rest of the guys.

"Don't worry I wont be late, Layla on the other hand…"

"Oh and one more thing" he said while walking backwards.

"What?"

"Be nice" He ran off towards the guys who were a good distance away already.

"Be late for what? Where are you guys going?" Cathy asked with only half interest.

"Wherever your not" Layla joked and took my elbow.

"So much for being nice to each other aye" I slurred like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean and let her take my elbow. Emily then decided to so the same with my other.

"Were going to a party Em. I'd invite you but it's not my place." I lied.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #13**

**She couldn't know that we were having a band rehearsal because she would tell Angela and Hilary, who would call our parents and tell them what we were up to. **

**None of our parents knew that Flames for Fury had a tryout this week. In fact they thought the band broke up a year ago when we told them we were just 'saw music in a different way' from eachother where truthfully, it was exactly the opposite. Since then, we had to practice in the school auditorium, which was hard to get in the summertime due to the drama camp that uses it in the summer, and play in secret so that our parents wouldn't break us up.**

**___________________________________________________**

"Nice cover, I wouldn't a thought of that" Emily complemented.

"Shhh. Thanks" I giggled. I had that late night high a bit early tonite. Maybe it was the air. Maybe it was what we were about to do. Or maybe it was just being around the ones that care about me the most. Whatever it was, it put everyone in a good mood.

"Jeez this must have coasted a fortune, it's like a royal suite" Emily said once we got into the elevator.

"It did and it is. But don't worry about it. I'm happy to share with you two." I smiled truthfully.

"Awwwwww!!!!!!" Emily and Layla said and hugged me tightly.

"Alright, alright get off me you know I hate hugs, especially when we are in a confined space!" I said half-heartedly. They continued to hug me for a few moments then stopped.

"Geez your skin is cold. Are you sick?" Emily asked.

"Naw, just naturally cold." I said quickly. Thank God, she let the subject drop.

"Where did Hilary, Cathleen, and Angela go?" Layla asked.

"Ok. For the first and third one who care. As for Cathy, I think she took the other elevator." I said

"You know what?" Emily said suddenly excited.

"What?" Layla and I asked in unison.

"I don't think Hilary and Angela ever came into the hotel with us!" she grinned wildly.

"Em, if they didn't come into the hotel with us then where did they…Oh!" Layla said stupidly. We continued to giggle like little girls, until we reached the eleventh floor.

"Hey have guys you seen Hilary and Angela?" Cathy asked she strode towards us. We all busted into laughter as Layla told Emilie her 'theory'.

"Well it's a good thing I have the pass key otherwise I'd be camping out with you all. That was really stupid of Angela, her mom said she was gonna call her every night at ten and if she's not here for it her mom is going to expect the worst!" she said.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #14**

**Cathleen and I were very clos, but she liked her sleep and Layla, Emily and I almost never slept (me never really sleeping at all that is). The three of us could go days on end with a ton of energy and only three hours of sleep. **

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"Oh my God, you're so right! I can def. see her mom driving all the way down here to yell at her then drag her home" I said then laughed.

"Hey what time is it anyway?" Cathleen asked, wondering why we all were turning in at what felt like an early time. I checked my leather spiky wristband watch.

"Its nine thirty" I said in slight shock. "Well uh, I'm wiped, let's get some sleep okay? Bye Cath, see you at ten thirty in'da AM dog-lover" I said as we turned and walked towards the door.

"Yeah see you then leach-lover." Said Cathleen skeptically as she slid the card in the slot and opened her door. We then did the same to ours and stepped inside.


	6. Chapter 5 Getting There

**CHAPTER FIVE GETTING THERE**

"Damn, why is it so bright in here? Didn't anyone tell them we are like, vampires?" Layla joked while entering the room.

"I know right" I said playing along though actually squinting hard. "Shit the one time I really forget my fucking sunglasses, I really need them." I muttered to myself. I ran into the room, grabbed my sunglasses off the night table and put them on, feeling instant relief.

"Oh, that's what Cathy meant by leach-lover. I didn't get it until just now and you called her a dog lover for loving the werewolves in that book, oh, right. Okay, makes sense. Anyway, guys we have to shower, pick outfits, and do our make up in an hour and a half." Emily said bringing us back into reality.

"Call first shower!" Layla yelled and ran into the bathroom.

"Layla! Open the door you take the longest in the shower come on!" Emily yelled.

"Emily." I said quietly yet sing-songingly.

"What?" she snapped.

"There are two bathrooms in this suite. Go use the other." I said slightly agrevated.

"What about you?" she asked. Emily was always worrying about everyone else.

"I took one at three a.m. yesterday because I couldn't sleep, so I'm not taking one until after rehearsal." I told her.

"Oh. Okay. Layla open up I need to get my-" Layla stuck out Emily's bathroom stuff.

"Thanks" she mumbled and ran off to the other side of the room and into the other bathroom. I heard her sounds of astonishment of the beauty of the bathroom and laughed. Emily was so easily amazed.

I walked over to my queen sized bed which was set up against the wall just the way I liked it then sat down on the edge. The large walk-in closet that I had all to myself was a few steps away so I decided to go change my black My Gravity Against Us shirt to the plain blood red tank top that was slightly low cut and a black ¾ shirt jacket to go over it that I had bought the day before. The color in my shirt thst I hsd bought the day before had just so happened to be the same color in my hair. I also ended up changing my black flats, with pink flamingos on them, to my favorite shoes, my black the high-tops with writing all over them in various pen and sharpie colors. I began to read the graffiti.

'May the llamas be with you – Cathy'. That one made me laugh every time I read it.

'To my girl- forever yours3 Tony'. I sighed.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #15**

**I had had these shoes since freshman year. I loved that year. Everyone was so free and no one was in charge of our group of friends. No stupid rules, no stupid vampire problems, nothing. We were all in the 'puppy love' stages of our relationships at the time and everything was just so simple then. Now everyone was all wrapped up with there school work and there boyfriends that they never talked anymore. And my vampric problems didn't help the situation. Then there was also the band. I loved this band with all my heart but it's not my lifelong career. I was already taking classes in order to be an FBI agent, which wasn't easy for a vampire to do. **

**___________________________________________________**

I decided do get up and do my make-up seeing how there was only one make-up station and I didn't want to fight over it. I walked over to the large mirror and looked at myself.

"Ugh I'm so fat!" A voice said softly from the bathroom door. I laughed then yelled at it.

"No you're not Layla, your just fine the way you are" I said to her.

"Whatever," she mumbled back "stupid bat hearing…" she muttered.

_"How the hell did she hear that_?" Layla thought. I ignored her thought and sat down and put on some red eyeliner and black mascara. I never put on any other make-up other then eyeliner, the occational eye shadow, and mascara. Everyone said I didn't need it. I agreed.

"Nikki, what should I wear?" Layla asked.

"How about that Nollie shirt with all the drawings on it and a pair of skinnys?" I suggested.

"I'm cool with the tee but I think I am going to wear shorts tonight instead." She said.

"Any specific reason why?" I asked.

"Well unlike you miss-never-cold-or-hot-anywhere-who's-always-got-cold-skin, I get hot on stage" she said matter-of-factly. I laughed at how right she was.

"Look who's taking a long time now Em!" She shouted while taking my place in front of the then walked out of the bathroom dressed, make up, and ready to go.

"Oh" Layla said stupidly and continued to put her make-up on.

"This is going to take a while Nik, you might as well entertain yourself." She said. I nodded in agreement. I returned to my closet and pulled out my messenger bag. I went into it and pulled out a binder and opened it. It had a Rise Against notebook and many unorganized papers in it. I pulled out the most recently given one and read it.

_"Your physical assignments over the summer are to keep in shape. You are to be doing two-hundred push-ups a day, four-hundred sit-ups and you are to be jogging or running three miles a day and five on weekends. You must keep track in the attached organizer and have a witness to each activity sign the attached paper."_ I groaned heavily as I read it to myself. Even as vampire I didn't want to do all those things.

"What's the matter?" Emily asked while organizing her cloths in the closet.

"Look at my assignment" I held out the paper to her. She read the paper out loud.

"Damn, are they trying to kill you guys?" She asked.

"Well at least you have all summer to do it" Layla shrugged attempting to raise my spirits.

"Actually I don't. I have to begin a summer training camp the day after we get back, so I only have to do it for three weeks. And get this; this is just the physical assignment. I still have the tactical one to do which I know is going to be really hard. And then, I have a real life mission to successfully complete which are harder than the real life thing so I have my work cut out for me. " I sighed and lay back on the bed. "But I guess I am lucky that they are taking me before I finish high school," I sad then I was done talking to anyone for a while.

"What time is it?" Emily wondered aloud. I didn't answer. I was barely listening when I heard Layla answer her.

"Its eleven fifteen" she replied lazily.

"What!" I yelled.

"Its e-l-e-v-e-n f-I-f-t-e-e-n p-m" she said slowly as if I was stupid.

"We were supposed to meet the rest of the band outside fifteen minutes ago!" I jumped out of bed and ran into Emily's closet at human speed.

"Wrong closet." they said lazily. I ran out of Emily's closet and into my own. I grabbed my Electric blue Ibanez RG1570, Emily's violin and Layla's Graveyard theme Jackson SLI USA soloist electric guitar then bolted out of thr closet.

"Lets go, NOW!" I said in a rush.

"But I'm not done with my make-up" Layla whined

"You can do it in the car, we have an hours ride and we CAN'T be late or they'll bump us." I yelled. They finally started rustling as I ran out the room.

"Make sure you have the right guitars!" Emily called after me, "Wow she can't be away from his side for more than a few hours, it's pathetic" Emily said to Layla jokingly.

"I can still hear you and if you don't get out here I'll go down to the lobby and tell both of your significant others your deepest darkest secrets. You have five seconds.

"She wouldn't" Layla said skeptically.

"She couldn't" Emily replied nervously.

"ONE…" I said and they busted out the door and down the hallway.

"Get back here I'm not your caddy these are expensive guitars and if I just leave them out here some hobo is bound to pick it up" I yelled. They ran back, grabbed there guitars and we walked to the elevator quietly in courtesy of the other hotel members and to make sure Cathleen didn't come out and see us sneaking out. We took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked outside the hotel. It was almost pitch black out.

"Why didn't we think to bring flashlights?" Emily whispered in fear.

"Oh chillax Em, it's just a bit of darkness nothing to be afraid o- AH!" Layla said then shrieked. Three tall figures that I couldn't make out jumped out of the bush beside us and attacked us by wrapped their arms around our waists and hovering over us.

"Did you miss me?" The voice asked.

"Ok never do that again, Tony." I said pretending to be scared.

"Huh? I'm not Tony I'm Daemon" He said bewildered and let go of me. I listened around me and heard the same conversations.

"Yo Tony, I got your girl by accident you got mine?" He asked.

"Nope. I got Em." He replied just as bewildered. We all couldn't contain in the laughter inside us any longer so we let it out.

"Ok everybody wife swap!' Craig laughed.

"That only works if your married Craig" I replied, shaking with laughter.

"Well you get the message" He laughed as if sharing an inside joke with himself. We fussed around again taking the hands of another.

"Hum… smooth, ice cold hands…" The hand reached up and placed my bang behind me ear, "Orange-mango smelling bang… absolutely God-sent hips…" He said as he removed his hard from my cheek and to my waist "I believe, though I could be mistaken, it has happened before, that this is my Nikki" the rough attractive voice I had come to know as Tony's said.

"You guessed right, for once." I said while closing the gap between our lips.

"Alright To-ny!" We pulled away from each other instantly, silently cursing the idiot who took out a light source that was currently blinding me.

Reality had suddenly dawned on me. "Oh my God we need to go now were la-" I turned to face the others to tell them that we were going to be late but was cut off by their stares and a blinding light in my eyes. Daemon was the idiot who took out his cell phone and used it as a light and was shining it directly in my eyes but I was too embarrassed to yell at him to get it outa my face though.

"We're late lets go" I mumbled, embarrassed. I placed my sunglasses on, faced Tony, Black Cherry Schecter C-1 Hellraiser in hand and saw that he was blushing a light shade of pink as well. We walked off towards the parking garage quickly and quietly having our own conversations.

"Whose car are we taking, Nikki's or Tony's?" Emily asked. Tony, Craig and Layla wanted to go in mine. Daemon, Emily and I replied in wanting to go in Tony's.

"We could flip a coin?" Layla suggested. We all groaned.

"Sure Layla, well flip a coin and well use the pair of fold up night vision goggles that I just so happen to have in my pocket to find the coin." Craig said sardonically.

"There is no time for sarcasm Craig. Lets just get in Nikk's your car. It goes much faster and larger than mine." Tony said as he took all the guitars and put them into the trunk, then walked over to the driver's side and held the door open for me. I mumbled a word of thanks and got into my car.

"Shotgun!" Craig called out.

"No fair I wanted it!" Daemon whined.

"Ok look here's the rule with my car. The significant other of the person who is driving gets to sit in the passenger side" I said slightly frustrated.

"Thanks babe, I owe you one." Tony said and sat in the passenger side and kissed my cheek while the others began their own conversations.

"It's a good thing he's sitting in the front, his big fat ass takes up the most space" I heard Craig mumble. I stifled a laugh as Tony turned the speaker system in the back high and pressed the play button on the CD player, knowing I would have something with loud guitars and screaming in there. Guessing correctly, Hawthorne Heights came on deafeningly loud, making Craig, who was sitting directly next to the speakers jump. I laughed, appreciating the creativity of his revenge but was pissed later on because my ears were still ringing.

I pressed the skip button on the mixed CD and Roadside by Rise Against came on. We played this song in out sets and were going to play it for the judges so everyone began to sing along to there assigned parts until Emily stopped us.

"Alright, alright save it for rehearsal guys, besides I am bored. In case you didn't notice, my violin is in the trunk with the rest of the gear." Emily stated after a few verses.

"She's right we should save our voices" I said and switched the song to something harder to sing along to.

"No. Not him anything but him!" They all whined. I had turned on Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas's _Smooth_. The song was out of character for me, but I loved it.

"Fine" I pouted but changed it to The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's Misery Loves its Company. I concentrated hard on the road even though I didn't really need to, just because I needed something to distract me from my nerves.


	7. Chapter 6 Auditions, Results& More Tats

**CHAPTER SIX AUDITIONS, RESULTS AND MORE TATTOOS**

We arrived at the superdome five minutes past twelve in other words five minutes late. Tony and I grabbed the gear from the trunk and ran into the superdome. I almost dropped everything in my hands, as did Tony, when we walked in.

"It's… HUGE!" Daemon boomed. It echoed throughout the dome. We walked though the isles towards the stage.

"Go set us up onstage guys and Tony and I will sign us in." I said, grabbing Tony's hand and dragging him towards the judges tabled located directly in front of the stage.

"Flames For Fury?" Asked a man with a familiar yet, hypnotizing voice. It he smelt different to me. Not sweet like a human would but still sweet none the less. I didn't know what to make of this but I decided this wasn't the best time to figure it out.

"Yes… yes sir." I said as I took my sunglasses off, "My name is Nikki Rivera, I play rhythm guitar and sometimes bass. This" I motioned at Tony, "is Tony Luciano, he is the vocalist and 2nd guitar. The Girl with the short curly black hair is Layla Carson, she plays bass. The one the brown hair is Emily O'Brien, she plays 2nd bass and violin," I said then Tony continued, "The guy with spiky hair is Craig McCormick, he's the drummer. And finally Daemon Malone, he's our band manager and soon to be full time bassist once he learns how to play… which could take years."

"Good. Who writes the songs?" The man asked.

"It varies but most of the time we write them together and end up with a few songs" Tony answered nervously.

"Tony let me do the talking; you are making us sound like amateurs at this." I whispered to him.

"Will you be performing one of your own for the tryouts?" He asked as he looked up from his papers and stared into my deep blue green eyes with his own piercing reddish black ones.

"Wow" Tony breathed almost silently. I had seen those eyes before. If fact I had seen that face. That man was familiar; I just couldn't put my finger on it. His eyes were terrifyingly eerie but I attempted to hold my composure.

"Um no actually we will be performing one by our role models Rise Against called Roadside. Perhaps you've heard of them?" I stuttered, noticing his pale yet extremely handsome features.

"Yes we have. Let's hope you do them justice." Said the other judge, looking up from there papers.

"Yes. Lets." I said and pulled Tony away from the table as fast as we could and walked up the stairs to the stage.

"What was that all about?" Emily asked while tuning her violin.

"I'll tell you later" I mumbled and started looking for my Ibanez RGI570. There was something creepy about that guy and I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like he wasn't real, almost deamon like. He seemed oddly familiar too. I let it go for the time being then focused.

"Where is my Ibanez?" I asked. Daemon stepped out from the shadows and handed me the guitar.

"All tuned and ready to go. I tuned it for you. I think I am getting better at this." He smiled. I trusted Daemon almost with my life, but not with tuning my guitar. I played a chord. It sounded awful. I silently thanked god it wasn't plugged in the amp, and fixed it. I plugged it into the amp and took my place on stage.

"Whenever you are ready." One of the judges said.

"On my count" I said.

"One, two. One, two, three." I whispered and Layla played the bridge. Then Tony sang:

"Tell me what; I'm supposed to do,

With all these leftover feelings of you,

'Cause I don't know"

Then Craig took Tony's place with the next verse.

"And tell me how I'm supposed to feel,

when all these nightmares become real

'Cause I don't know"

Then Tony took over again.

"And I don't think, you see the places inside

me that I find you."

Then Tony and I took over with the next line.

"And I don't know how we separate the lies

here from the truth."

Then Tony kept going when I stopped, as he was supposed to do.

"And I don't know how we woke up one day,

somehow thought we knew,

exactly what were supposed to do"

Emily kept on playing, as fluently and graceful as ever.

Layla and Tony took the next lines.

"So leave me at the roadside,

and hang me up and out to dry;

So leave me at the roadside,

and hang me up and out to dry."

Then Tony took the next verse.

"And I don't think, you see the places inside

me that I find you."

Then Craig and Layla took over with the next line.

"And I don't know how we separate the lies

Here from the truth."

Then Tony and I took the next one.

"And I don't know how we woke up one day,

Somehow thought we knew,

Exactly what were supposed to do"

Layla and Craig took the next lines

"So leave me at the roadside,

And hang me up and out to dry;

So leave me at the roadside,

And hang me up and out to dry."

Then Craig took the next verse.

"'Cause I don't think, you see the places inside

Me that I find you."

Then Tony and I took over with the next lines

"And I don't know how we separate the lies

Here from the truth."

Then I dropped out and Tony sang:

"And I don't know how we woke up one day,

Somehow thought we knew,

Exactly what were supposed to do"

"Exactly what to do" Tony finished.

There were a few moments of stress filled silence, and then it was broken.

"Thank you. Well call you." Said the creepy judge while running his hand though his medium length jet-black hair.

"No thank you for the opportunity Mr.…." Tony said

"Mr. Mahoney. Jack Mahoney."

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #15**

**Jack. Jack. Jack. The name was familiar as well. Like from the past. All I knew was he was no good. It also gave me a sense of danger and worry. I suddenly felt the need to get out of the dome and never come in contact with that man again.**

**___________________________________________________**

"Well thank you Mr. Mahoney it was a pleasure meeting you." I said and packed up as quickly as humanly possible. We managed to pack up and get back out to the car in five minutes flat.

"Okay that guy, was creepy" I shuddered. After he had said his name something told me we should get out of there and fast.

"Yeah, he was, but don't worry, ill malways be here to protect you." Tony said and hugged me tight. Unfortunately this wasn't very reassuring because I was almost 1000x stronger than him, but still, it was nice to know.

"What was he talking to you guys about?" Daemon asked. We told him about the creepy judge as we all got into the car.

"So, where are we going, because I didn't expect to be back at the hotel until three and its only one." I asked everyone. I wasn't tired (obviously) and I was in the mood to do something.

"How about we go and get that tattoo you wanted to get Nik?" Tony said.

"Yeah let's do that! Is that cool with you guys? I'll try and be quick I promise" I said and put on a puppy dog face for their benefit.

"It's cool with us as long as we can take a walk on the beach while you're doing that." Daemon said, while holding Layla's hand.

"Sure that's cool with us, right Tony?" I asked. He had an unreadable face on.

"What? Yeah sure that's cool with me." He said and took out his phone and started texting someone.

"Who are you texting at this hour?" I asked curiously.

"Just Ricky. I'm checking up on him. I feel kind of bad he's all alone tonight." Tony said quickly and pulled his phone further from me. He was lying, badly.

"You're not a very good liar Tony." I said, but let it go. I drove into Wildwood and parked on a lit up street near the board walk.

"Ok. We'll meet back at two because we have an hours drive back to Ocean City ok" I said.

"Sure. Meet you back here at two, got it. Get something crazy Nik." Layla said.

"Will do" I said as Tony and I walked away arm around each other lovingly.

"You know where you're going right?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Yeah it's just a little further down the boardwalk" I said and we walked on. After a few minutes we came up to Papa Joe's Tattoo's for the Dark souls. I laughed at how accurate the name was.

"Sweet name" Tony commented. I agreed with a nod.

"Are gonna get one?" I asked him.

"Um, yeah, I am gonna get a stabbed heart." He said.

"Deep." I commented.

"What do you want, I'm paying, no arguing" He said quickly and with finality. I opened my mouth to protest but he pressed his down to mine to silence me.

"Fine, you can pay. I'm getting three black roses on my wrist with a vine and the works." I said slightly dizzy from our kiss. It always amazed me that even being a vampire didn't stop him from taking my breath away. After I wasn't light headed anymore I walked up to the counter and addressed the worker.

"Hi, I want three black roses on my wrist with a vine and the works on my left wrist." I said beginning to remove the two black bracelets and the one gold one from my hand.

"Are you sure about that missy, it really hurts on the wrist." He asked, mildly concerned.

"Yes, I'm positive," I leaned forward to see his name tag, "Rusty, I have done this before." I replied.

"You'll have to fill out these forms let me get you so-"I handed him the already filled out waver I had from the other tattoo place.

"Right this way miss" He said and led me into the back and into a bright room with a scary looking guy with tattoos all over his arms and legs. I sat down in the chair and the door closed.

"Hey I'm Chip. I'm just gonna clean your wrist and then get started ok." He said. For a Scary looking guy he was quite charming.

"Thanks Chip, but I've done this before so theres no need for explanations" I said and tuned out to the music in my head. After what felt like hours but was probably only forty minutes Chip spoke.

"'m almos' don' miss." He said. I looked at my arm. It was just the way I had expected it to be only better.

"Thanks Chip it looks better than I ever would have dreamed of." I replied truthfully.

"No problems miss," He said as he finished with the last thorn on the vine "All done and ready to go, come back soon." He said.

"Will do." I said and I slipped him a fifty for a tip. He smiled widely in appreciation. Before I left the room I glanced at the wall and my eyes met with a limited edition Jackson SLI USA soloist Electric guitar in its Eerie Desert Swirl color.

"Is that yours?" I asked still staring at it.

"Yeah she's mine you play?" He asked.

"Electric blue Ibanez RG1570 and a Black Schecter Damier FR." I said fluently still admiring the guitar.

"Wow that must have coasted a pretty penny." He fawned.

"You have no idea." I said taking my last look then I walked back to the front, and into Tony's arms.

"Let me see." He said and took my left hand with his right and examined it a few times. I noticed his new tattoo. It was a Black Schecter Damier FR on his un tattooed, well, now tattooed, arm.

"I thought you were getting a stabbed heart" I questioned.

"Yeah, well my hearts never been stabbed before and I liked the guitar better." He gave me a toothy grin, "Now, I'd love to stay here and bask in your beauty but we do have to get back to the others." I smiled and we walked hand in hand out the door. My wrist throbbed slightly as we walked back to the car was in a comfortable silence, which was odd seeing as thought I had no blood throbbing through my veins. When we were about three fourths of the way back to the car the silence was broken by my phone ringing. I checked the ID. It said unknown caller with an unfamiliar number. I shrugged and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Natalia from Flames for Fury?" an oddly familiar hypnotic voice asked. I replied with a yes. "This is Jack Mahoney with your scores." The voice said.

"Oh yes of course." I shuttered at the fact that I had to talk to him again, and the fact that he knew my real name and number when I didn't tell him either, then mouthed to Tony who it was. He gasped then became extremely silent.

"You and your band were the best we had seen all night, you're in. Your scheduled rehearsal times are every other night at midnight until the concert. Thank you for auditioning and we will see you on Tuesday at midnight. Goodbye." There was a click and then the line went dead.

"What did he say?" Tony said after I took the phone away from my ear. I took a dramatic pause then yelled.

"Were in baby!!!!" I yelled to the sky then kissed Tony. After we broke apart we decided to tell the others when we were where they weren't going to wake up anyone with their screams. When we got back the others were waiting outside the car. Layla and Emily looked at me as though they were going to explode with excitement.


	8. Chapter 7 Crash

CHAPTER SEVEN CRASH

"Oh My God I have something to tell you!!" The three of us yelled at each other.

"Well do it in the car. I wanted to leave half an hour ago but _someone_ wasn't here" Daemon said in a accusatory tone.

"Sorry Daemon, my tattoo took longer than I thought it would" I said looking at it fondly.

"Oh let me see" Layla and Emily said in unison again. I held it out to them and they both smiled approvingly.

"I don't feel like driving. Anyone else wanna?" I asked. Layla was the first to yell out 'I do' so I threw her the keys. She got in the drivers side and Daemon got in the passenger side.

"How did you guys sit back here before? There are only three seats." I asked dumbfounded. Tony sighed, got in and pulled me on his lap. I didn't even bother to 'Oh' this time because I would have sounded like a broken record. I snuggled up to Tony and placed my head under his chin as he put his arms around me protectively. I closed my eyes and attempted to drift off to the soothing sounds of My Chemical Romance but I was interrupted by Emily and Layla.

"So want to hear what we have to tell you?" they said in a squeaky voice and unison.

"Only if you stop saying everything at once" I replied in the same babyish voice but it didn't put them down. Tony shook with laughter sending me up and down for a few moments.

"WERE GETTING MARRIED!" they yelled over the blasting music.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?" I yelled back with joy.

"SERIOUS, JUST LIKE HEART-ATTACKS" they sang loudly. Daemon lowered the music so it was at background level and smiled. They both flipped out the left hands, Layla placing hers behind her head so I could see, and showed me two of the most beautiful, yet extremely different rings ever. Layla's was a decent sized cut diamond with her birthstone (Quartz) on each side of a gold wedding band and the words 'I'll love you forever' engraved in the bottom. Emily's was a large diamond ring with a white gold band and had the words 'my princess' engraved on the bottom.

"Wow guys you surprised me, you actually have good taste in rings" I complemented Craig and Daemon.

"So that's where you all went. To get the engagement rings. No wonder you were so secretive." I thought aloud. They smiled widely.

"So what's your good news?" They asked.

"Well its nothing compared to your news but, we got accepted!" I said with some excitement.

"No way that's awesome!," Layla yelled, turned around and started talking rapidly "What are we going to sing at the concert? Or are we going to write something new? Or are we going to something of someone else's? Of coarse we wouldn't do something of someone else's that would defeat the purpose of the concert-"

"LAYLA, TURN AROUND!" I yelled but it was too late for her to do anything. Five heads snapped to the direction the car was going then panicked.

"AHHHHHHHH! "She shrieked along with the rest of us, letting go

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #15**

**Time didn't slow down like it did in the movies, or like I had wished it did. The car spiraled several times before speeding off the road. Then we hit something, something big. The car stopped and all was still for a few moments. I was about to tell everyone to get out of the car but there was a loud creaking noise and branches hanging from the tree above ripped off the tree and fell. A branch that must have been twice the size of an elephant landed on top of the car crushing us beneath its strong metal roof. **

**___________________________________________________**

I heard five heart beats increase rapidly/

"_If we survive this we are the luckiest people alive."_ Craig thought.

"_I feel like my heart is on super over drive yet my body slower than a snail." _Daemon thought

Then suddenly the heart races began to slow and I began to panic.

"Natalia?" The strained distant voice called.

"Yes?" I said.

"I love you" It panted. I knew it as Tony, it was the only voice I would know anywhere without seeing the person who made it, dead or alive.

"I love you too" I sobbed tearlessly.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #16**

**I had to make a choice. Condemn the one I love to a life of eternal hell or let him go, lost forever, never to return to me. I couldn't take to long so I had to pick fast. It was death or death either way right? So why not live through death? But the consequences are they worse than death themselves? What would happen to there future, my future if I didn't… If I did? This life changing choice that I have been thinking about for years and had to be made in under a minute and I was no where near ready.**

**___________________________________________________**

Lowering my lips down to Tony's neck was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do. I opened my mouth just enough to let my fangs retract and slowly bit down concentrating on remembering who I was biting and why I was biting him.

I wanted so badly to keep going, to just drink and drink and drink but something, something I will forever be grateful of, was holding me back. "Drink!" the monster said "He is a poor stupid human, he does not deserve to live, and he doesn't deserve you. Drink! Drink!"

After what felt like a lifetime I pulled my fangs out and got off him, making sure not to touch him and hurt him even more. He was quiet for a moment then began to moan and whisper. I was suddenly overcome with the same smell I had smelt back at the dome. Realizing that that Jack guy could be out there I was suddenly alert and my head snapped up from staring sorrowfully at Tony's pain to out the window. There was a figure there that o couldn't make out. I stiffened then growled.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #17**

**Vampires had enhanced senses so I could sense when someone was coming, human, vampire or whatever else is out there. Scents were a key part of this. Each human has a distinctive scent but one still universal enough to allow me to tell if it was, indeed, a human. What I didn't realize at the time was that vampires have a specific scent that if smelt before will be automatically recognized. It was the blood that smelt which was why vampires instinctively feed on humans, because they had the best scent. **

**___________________________________________________**

"Natalia?" A voice called. This one had a familiar soothing velvety Spanish accent. An accent that I hadn't heard in years.

"Melissa?" I asked amazed.

"Get out here chichi, just bend the door your friends won't notice they are too unconscious." I did as she said then I bent the hood of the car up making the left side of the car wide enough to pull everyone out of. I climbed out then stood on the pavement and surveyed the area. We had hit a tree and a large branch had fallen on the car crushing us beneath it. I sighed then looked at my aunt. She was, unlike me, calm. I looked from her to the car then back again and waited for her to say something.

"Melissa you have to change them, I can't loose them and I don't think I can handle changing another one of them." I told her. She looked at me then sighed.

"Carefully take the bodies out of the car. Hold your breath so you won't smell the blood." She instructed me. I nodded then stopped breating. I bent down into the car and placed my hands on Tony's back and underneath his knees then pulled him out of the car.

"Put him in the car directly so we don't have to move him again." Melissa said. I nodded then ran him towards her SUV and placed him in the back seat with his seat belt on. He moaned then yelled in a hushed tone "Make the fire stop. PLEASE Nikki, please, I love you, help me!" I sobbed again then closed the door and returned to Melissa.

I continued to take out Emily, Craig, and Daemon and laid them on the pavement. Then I went to the driver's side and pulled off the door. Layla was bloody, very very bloody. I gently pulled her body toward me; somehow managing not to get any of her blood on me, then placed her next to the others. Melissa then sunk her teeth into Layla's neck first. I wondered why she started with her first but didn't ask, then went into a state of shock as I realized that my friends were about to become eternally damned. I scolded myself for being so selfish as to ask Melissa to damn them for eternity, not that they knew but it still made me feel rotten. She did the others with no problems of control then came over to me.

"They'll be alright. We need to get them into the car before someone comes and investigates all the screaming." She said to me. I hadn't even noticed they were screaming until she has said so. Everyone was shrieking as though they were dying a slow painful death, which they were. I began to sob as I picked up my friends one by one then placed them into Melissa's SUV. Once everyone was in the car Melissa got into the drivers seat and I the passengers seat.

"I am a horrible person for doing this to them. Death would be better than this. Anything is better than this." I said talking to no one in general.

"Don't think that mija, its okay. Just think in a week they will be happed and thank you for not letting them die. You'll see." She soothed me. My eyes widened.

"A week!" I yelled over the others who were now moaning. "A week of hell! That's torture Melissa. The fire, the fire." I said then shuttered tremendously.

"I am sorry. A week is how long it's going to take. A week is how long you took." She said to me. If I hadn't gone into total shock before, that had done it.

"You did this to me!" I screamed. I was so shocked that everything went black and I slipped into unconsciousness.


	9. Chapter 8 Fire

**CHAPTER EIGHT FIRE**

___________________________________________________

**Vampire Note #18**

**There was a girl lying on a bed squirming, in a room I had never seen before. She had been screaming like she was being tortured. The thoughts of the girl shouted out at me. **

"_**What had I done to deserve this hell? Was it not listening to my parents? Was it not going to church? The only thing left to do now if pray. I pray that my mother and father have a happy life and that my brothers get good girls that will put up with their abnormalities. I pray for my Grandmothers and father and that they live many years longer than myself. I love them all so much. I wiswh I got to tell them that, just one last time." **_

She was familiar. I thought harder then figured it out. It was me. I was remembering my own transformation. I remembered it like I was going through it again.

**It had gotten hotter at the moment I had been seeing, if at all possible. I had attempted to open my eyes****to but had found that I had only able to do so half way. The fire had ceased momentarily and I had became numb everywhere, still feeling my heart beat slowly, almost so slow as to not be moving. I had been scanning my surroundings. It had been pitch black and I had been frightened. **

There was something oddly familiar to me now about where I was. Familiar, and yet not. I had tried to lift my wrist to see if I had been able to move but the fire had increased immensely and I had screamed.

**Before I had gotten too attached to the conscious****world, I was pulled back into the fire only this time twenty times hotter. There had been searing though out my body again, in all the same places. All but one, my heart, still beating slowly and strained, trying so hard to keep going no matter how much I had willed it to just stop and kill me, it kept going. Then I had felt the worst of it all, a searing, blistering, pain slowly seeping into my chest. I remembered that I had never wanted anymore than that moment to die. I had wanted to die and I had wanted it to happen fast. It was like someone had been holding a match to my heart and simultaneously ripping it out of my chest over and over again. As I watched myself take my last breaths as a human I remembered what I had been thinking about. I was thinking about my life and things I could have done to have been a better person and then I remembered the last time beat, the last time I truly was human.**

**As the dream continued my dream self was gasping for non-existent air but finding that she still felt alive. I had regained consciousness from my catatonic state and found I wasn't in the same room as I was when i had first awoke. This room was dimly lit but large and breathtaking. It was a bedroom with large, ceiling high windows with the curtains drawn. I had risen slowly from the bed making sure I wasn't going to slip away into a distant world again or fall to the ground remembering the pain I had been in, and had walked in inhuman silence towards the window. I had shuttered at how quiet it had been then wished I had had something to comfort me.**

**I remembered the view outside****the window was bound to take your breath away if it hadn't already been stolen by the room it's self. It was a mountain scope covered with snow**. **I remembered being so confused because it had been summer, just like it was now and that I had couldn't remember what happened to me.**

**In the distance I heard almost silent footsteps enter through the door. I had turned to face my visitor. It was a person whom right then I****had believed to be long dead.**

"Melissa?" The dream me asked bewildered.

"**Hola chichi, Como estás?" She had asked me.**

"**I'll be much better when I get some answers," The dream me said slightly impatient. "What did you do to end up in hell?" I had asked suddenly.**

**"All in good time mija, all in good time." She laughed. I had waited for her to go on "Well first of all, you're not in hell." She had said simply.**

"Then why was there so much fire?" I had asked, contemplating where I could have possibly been, "Am I dead?" I asked still contemplating.

**"In most ways, yes you are dead, but as I said all in good time." She told me.**

___________________________________________________

Suddenly I woke up from my dream like trance and found myself in the room I had seen in my dream. I rubbed my eyes then shuttered. I was in that room, the one with the large bed and the high ceilings. I screamed, and then Melissa ran into the room.

"What. What's wrong with you?" She said frantically. I sat up on the bed, hugging my knees to my chest tightly.

"Room, memories, fire, so much fire." Was all I could say. Melissa picked me up and ran me out of the room and into another where I saw Layla and Emily squirming on the two beds in the room. I jumped out of her hands then ran toward them. Before I could touch them I hit an invisible wall. I looked at Melissa and she motioned for me to come back.

"If you touch them they will be in more pain. Just wait, they will be awake in a minute." I began to get mad. Then I felt the flame at my finger tips growing to my hands then my arms were inflamed. I slowly controlled the fire and my arms defused. I waited a long agonizing minute for one of them to move and then Layla finally sat up.

"Nikki? What going on? Are we in hell?" She asked me. I nodded my head yes and was about to talk to her but Emily then awoke.

"Nikki!" She exclaimed then got out of the bed and ran at me. I groaned slightly before she reached me, noticing that she was truly a vampire by her speed. She came to a graceful halt then hugged me with so much force I couldn't breathe. I hugged her back then Layla joined us. She hugged me with all her might, finally having some of the comfort I was sure she wanted.

"I can't breathe," Emily gasped softly.

"You don't need to." Melissa said as the walked through the door. "Why don't you introduce us Natalia." She suggested.

"Layla, Emily this is my aunt Melissa… She saved you guys from the car accident." I said. They looked at me confused.

_"What does she mean saved us? Aren't we dead?" _Layla thought. I answered her thoughts.

"You will find out soon enough about what I mean and yes in a way you are dead." I said. She looked at me shocked.

_"Did she just read my mind?" _Layla thought_._

_"Where are the boys?"_ Emily thought.

"Yes I did just read your mind. I promise we will explain everything as soon as the boys wake up. And I don't know where they are Emily but we will see them in a minute" I told them. They stood there and stared at me half confused and half amazed.

"Tia these are my best friends Layla," I motioned at her "And Emily" I finished pointing at her.

"It's nice to meet you both" She said politely and warmly.

"Where are the others?" Emily asked in concern.

"They are across the hall; perhaps we should go check on them." She said and led the way. Emily and Layla followed me out of the room nervously. We walked into a completely different room. Its shades were closed, there were three beds filled with three groaning figures.

"Somebody put out the fire please!' The one on the left cried.

"Daemon?" Layla breathed.

"Layla help me please, put out the fire, put out the fire!!" he yelled again. Layla attempted to walk towards the bed but walked into what seemed to be an invisible wall. She stuck her hand forward and knocked on the invisible wall.

"Melissa shouldn't Tony be done he was changed first!" I exclaimed. She frowned, then contemplated.

"Yes he should. How much venom did you put in?' She asked me. I looked at her bewildered.

"I don't know! How could I possible know that! I was concentrating on NOT killing him! Why isn't he awake?!" I screamed at her. Melissa ignored me and I paced. Eventually my hands inflamed and my eyes were probably red. I shot out the fire at the candle across the room but it bounced back because of the invisible wall. I disappeared back into my hand and I yelped in pain.

"What's going on here?" Layla asked Melissa with an expression of anger and fear on her face.

"You don't want to touch them; it will make it hurt more. Just give it a minute and then you can go comfort them." She instructed. Layla continued to knock several times then found it wasn't doing anything useful.

A long agonizing minute passed by and Melissa nodded her head indicating it was ok to move forward. I stuck my hand forward just incase the invisible wall was still there and when I saw that it was not I ran to Tony's side.

"How did you do that?" Emily said staring at me as though I have four arms.

"Do what?" I asked

"Get to his side so fast?" Layla said staring as well.

"You girls can do it too, just run." Melissa said smiling as if sharing some sort of inside joke with herself.

_"What did I do to be in hell?"_ Tony thought.

"You didn't do anything to deserve to be in hell Tony sweetie I did and I took you down with me" I said to him sadly.

"Nikki, how did you know I thought I was in hell if I didn't say it out loud?" Tony asked sitting up abruptly.

"Not now, I'll tell you later." I told him.

_"Maybe I said it out loud. What the hell is going on here?" _Tony thought.

"No, you didn't say it out loud and we will tell you what's going on here soon." I told him.

"Ok I know I didn't say that out loud this time" Tony said, now sitting up, legs in a pretzel position.

"Would you mind telling us what's going on?" Layla asked suddenly short tempered. Then I head another voice.

"Are you sick Daemon?" Craig asked.

"How did you know I felt sick?" He asked, continuing to not show his confusion.

"I don't know I… I just kinda felt it if that makes any sense" He stuttered.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Emily yelled.

"There is no need to yell, if you will follow me I will explain everything you disoriented fangs." She said. I laughed slightly at the joke no one got but me then followed.

**___________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #19**

**Fang- a term used by older vampires to refer to younger vampires**

**___________________________________________________**


	10. Chapter 9 Explanations

**CHAPTER NINE EXPLAINATIONS**

We followed her down a long hallway a large set of marble stairs. As we walked I observed my surroundings. There were paintings of old people with name plates under them Only one I read was familiar name. It read Alfred Rivera, my great-grandfather. I was about to ask how she acquired a picture of him, seeing as though he died in a fire at his house when I was seven, but she led us into a very modern looking light blue sitting room that made me forget to ask.

She sat down in a fluffy green arm chair facing all the others. I scanned the room once more before plopping down on the brown leather love seat beside her. The others walked into the room silently and took a set next to there significant others. Tony sat down beside me, pecked me on the cheek and placed his arm around my shoulders. I snuggled closer to him then faced my aunt again waiting for her so explain. I saw a look of amusement and slight anger on her face. Before I could ask her the reason for her facial expressions she asked me a question of her own.

"Who is this?" she asked, motioning at Tony.

"Oh, sorry. This is Tony," I said introducing him and this is Daemon" I said pointing at him "and that;s Craig." I said quickly.

"Wow Nikki, you really need to work on you introductory skills." Craig laughed as and the others joined in. I laughed, overcome with the urge to do so. Once I was able to respond I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever Craig, this is so not the time to discuss my introductory skills or lack there of, Craig, Daemon, Tony, this is Melissa Rivera, my aunt" I said. They all nodded still waiting for an explanation.

"Please call me anything you like, just not Ms. Rivera Its so… formal" She said with a fake shudder. They smiled.

"Melissa, if you don't mind, could we please get some information." Daemon asked politely.

"Jes, of course. Okay. Well lets start off with this. You are not exactly dead. You don't breathe, sleep or eat food, but you aren't dead." She said.

"If we don't sleep, breathe or eat food then how aren't we dead?" Emily asked.

"I'm still breathing. See?" Craig said and breathed deeply.

"Let me be more specific. You don't have to. You don't have to breathe, you could eat food but you would have to throw it up later on and it would taste like the last thing you ate when you were alive, and you can't sleep at all. You also can't cry and have super strength and speed and a few other enhanced senses." She said normally. They all still didn't get it.

"Well doesn't that make us zombies?" Tony asked. I hit him in the head.

"Were not zombies you idiot, there are no such things as zombies. You watch too much TV." I said to him.

"Actually there are, but that's beside the point. Now let's start with the accident. I was watching from the side of the road, unseen of coarse as I had been from the beginning of the week, when I saw your friend loose control of the wheel. I got to you guys as fast as I could but it wasn't fast enough," She sighed and looked as though she could be crying, "You hit a tree and part of it fell on top of you. Natalia managed to get you all out of the car but was it was too late for you to be rushed to a hospital and still live. So Natalia and I did all in our power so save you." she informed them.

Layla was shaking with horror. I knew that she knew exactly what we were, but was shaken by the thought. Daemon noticed her shaking and hugged her tighter.

" So we're…" She gulped loudly washing the non existent saliva from her mouth down her itchy throat, "Were…" She tried again, "v- v- v- amp- ppir- ee-ssss." She stuttered.

"Huh?" They all said.

"Were vampire's guys, vampires." I said relieving Layla of saying it.

"_Ok. I think she's lost it. We're NOT vampires. There's no such thing"_ Emily thought.

"There are such things as vampires Emily, you are one, you're in a room filled with them. I'm not crazy but now that the whole room knows your opinion on the matter, who else thinks I am crazy?" I asked the inhumanly silent room. No one answered.

"She didn't say you were crazy Nik, she didn't say anything." Craig told me. I ignored him then became silent like the others.

"She thought it." I told him.

"Melissa what is this itching at the back of my throat, it is excruciatingly annoying." Daemon asked while rubbing his throat. I let out a whimper; this was what I didn't want them to have to deal with.

"It's the worst thing about being a vampire mijo, blood lust. I am surprised jou didn't mention it earlier. We will have to go hunting soon." She said. They all stiffened.

"Oh relax guys its okay. We hunt animals. We are vegetarian vampires. We only drink animal blood." I fake laughed. The room eased slightly.

"This does not mean you are not going to have the temptation to feed on human blood, but animal blood feeds the desire sufficiently." Melissa said and the room stiffened again.

"But don't worry Melissa and I will teach you to control it. As I said, all in good time." I said to them. _I still have to work on that myself._ I thought to myself

"How is this going to work?" I asked.

"What do you mean love?" Tony asked. Melissa made a face at the word love.

"I mean how are we all going to live in the same space with out being conspicuous?" I asked suddenly worried.

"Well, that's the beauty of living as far from civilization asa possible. No one will be anywhere near here ever, because no one knows there's a castle up in the middle of no where. There is a lot of wild life here too so we have food. As for school you will not be going until I am positive you will be able to resist all temptation and I don't think you want to go without your friends and that would also cause suspicion so you won't be going for a while. Now as for you're… situations, I don't care what you do but there is something you should know," She said sadly.

"Vampires… Well… How to put this? I am sure you all remember that week of the icy fire running through your body. That fire was venom. It is located in your 'vampire' teeth or canines if you will, which, if you don't already know, are the deadly pointy ones two teeth after the front ones. That venom weakens your prey when you bite into it. It also can turn another into a vampire which is how I saved you all. What the venom does exactly is freeze all your organs and burn the blood out of your system, hence the icy fire. Do you understand what I am trying to say?" she asked. I looked around the room. Everyone's expressions were blank.

"It means we can't have babies'." I told them. There was a chorus of 'oh's from everyone except Emily. She was just staring at the wall across the room. "Em, are you alright?" I asked. Everyone looked at her.

"Yes I'm okay" She lied, but I let it go for the time being.

_"Of coarse I'm not alright! You just told me I am a blood sucking monster. A MONSTER, A MONSTER. And you expect me to be okay?! Why is everyone taking this so well? We are Monsters. We drink blood! What the hell is wrong with them? Now everything is ruined. My wedding, my friends my life. This couldn't get worse."_ She thought. I kept my mouth shut this time about what she thought and returned to the conversation, attempting to pick up where it left off.

"What about all our belongings?" Tony had asked.

"Well if you mean your cloths, they won't fit anymore, well except Natalia's. When you become a vampire the venom also corrects all your imperfections so you all will probably be all different sizes now. Oh, and girls you might be a few sizes up in one area, if you know what I mean," she smiled, "so you all will have to buy new cloths-"

"We don't have any money its all back at the hotel with the rest of our belongings." Daemon said.

"Ay Dios mio I must be losing it. I forgot give you these," she pulled out six gold credit cards and handed one to each of us, "they are have an unlimited amount of money so don't worry about that, just buy what you want to. As for your old things, I will try to find a way go get them with out anyone getting suspicious. I managed to save your guitars and other stuff from the trunk of the car. I'll show you where it is later."

"Ok wait, so were vampires right? What happens if we go in the sun?" Layla asked.

"As you may have noticed your skin is paler so that won't change no matter how many hours you attempt to tan but the sun can temporaily blind you if you look at it so you must wear dark sunglasses whenever you are in the sun." She replied.

"Why?" Layla asked. Melissa shrugged.

"I haven't figured that one out yet." She told us.

"What about garlic?" Craig asked.

"You can't eat it but you can bear to be in the same room with it." I told him.

"Do we have reflections?" Tony asked. I laughed and Melissa answered him.

"Yes, and before you ask, you will show up in photos too. Those are just Hollywood superstitions." She laughed.

"What about the room situations?" I asked.

"As said I don't care if you sleep in the same rooms, but there are enough rooms in this house for you each to have three of them. You may decorate them as you like but I ask you that until you have control of your new instincts to internet shop. I have six laptops in the desk in the room over there so when you all retreat to your bedrooms you can take one."

"What about out aging? I could never figure out. I keep on aging even though it happened a few years ago." I asked her.

"Well I think, again I can't be positive, but I am pretty sure that if you are bitten under or of the age of eighteen you will forever be eighteen, and if you are bitten after the age of eighteen you remain the age you were when you were changed." She told me. I mouthed an 'oh' then returned to the others puzzled faces.

"Aren't we supposed to be dead?" Tony asked.

"Yes Tony. You guys just died, didn't you get that yet?" I said annoyed.

"I mean like to everyone else are we dead or missing. What's going to happen back in Ocean City- wait a minute what do you mean you guys? Didn't you just die too?" Tony asked. I sighed the got up and walked over to the window. I looked out then spoke.

"No. I didn't just die." I said solemnly.

"Care to explain?" Tony asked.

"I died when I was fifteen," I told them "when we were first going out." I directed at Tony. I stared out at the mountains then continued. "I have been a vampire for about two years. Now think about it guys. I never did eat garlic, or anything for that matter, at least not around you. And I never did go on school on a sunny day. In fact I remember on the last week of school I had cut last period because it was sunny and we were going to play outside in gym." I said then looked at everyone. They indicated for me to go on.

"And here is the thing. When you are a vampire and you haven't hunted your eyes get darker and darker until they are pitch black. That also happens when someone with a tempting scent walks by you and waves their scent around. Layla noticed that in social studies once, but didn't think on it. I don't know if you noticed but I was always in a better mood when my eyes were lighter. Also, when someone got too close or bumped into me when I didn't expect it my eyes would flash black then slowly return to there normal color when I controlled the monster. So basically, I endangered your lives every day by just being anywhere within a few miles from you. If you are going to blame anyone for this new and horrid life blame me. I was too selfish to let you guys go. I know that this may not sound so bad right but after a century of killing innocent animals, you will wish you had died in the crash. That is if you already don't. So you can hate me and I won't blame you. I am a horrible person. I am so sorry" I confessed. Everyone looked at me with blank stares of there faces.

"_Poor Nikki. Having to keep that secret for two years, I would go insane. That must have been awful"_ Thought Craig. My eyed widened in shock. He was sorry for me, not mad or afraid of me but sorry for me.

"_I wish she had told us, we would have accepted her anyway. I wonder how we all could have been so clueless."_ Layla thought

_"Wow. I'm in love with a vampire… I have been in love with a vampire for two years… and didn't know it. No wonder we couldn't kiss like that I might have... And to think I thought we were going to… I wonder how many times she has wanted to kill me…"_ Tony thought.

_"This is so cool! I feel like I am invincible. Man, Nikki was lucky to have this all these years." _Daemon thought. I frowned.

"It won't be as cool once we go hunting Daemon. And I wasn't lucky all these years, I was, and am, cursed." I told him. He continued to smile, not believing a word I said. "I can't believe you guys are being so calm about this. I could have killed you at any moment, even by accident. I could have hugged one of you too tight and shattered your bones. Don't you get it?" I said loudly. Everyone smiled lightly.

"Nik, we love you. We would never shun you no matter what! Unless you were a cheerleader. Then I think we might have shunned you." Tony said then got off the couch and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me. I smiled and relaxed. I felt like my life was just starting over, like I had a second chance. Then Melissa cleared her throat and continued to answer Tony's previous question.

"Yes and I have already filled out your death certificates and planed your funerals so no one will realize there is no body in the caskets. However in extra security you are going to have to change your names once you go to school, all of you are going to have the same last name which I will leave the decision up to you. If you have no further questions you may go explore the castle and pick your bedrooms but I do ask that you don't go in the south wing just yet and don't go into the North at all, that includes going though the front door." She said as her finishing statement. The moment she had finished Emily jumped off the couch to leave the room. She used her newly found vampire speed and took a laptop from the desk and sped away in less than half a minute. Craig followed doing the same.

"I will be on the north side of the castle in my bedroom, just call me if you need me. I am happy to answer any of your questions. " She said sweetly and kissed me on the head as she left the room. After we were sure she was out of earshot we began conversing about out new lifestyle.

"This is so… I don't know cool!" Daemon said. I sighed in relief.

"I am so glad you think so. I was beginning to think you all would have rather have been dead." I sighed still a bit depressed.

"If I was dead I wouldn't be with you, and if I wasn't with you I'd die… again." he said lovingly but slightly confused. I laughed and kissed him.

"Well Daemon and I are going to go find a room, probably in the west wing so come by us." She said and walked over to the desk to pick up two computers.

"Oh and Lai don't go shopping yet we should all do it together like a real trip." I said beginning to like this new situation more and more by the minute.

"Mmk Nikki have fun." She said and left the room with Daemon at her side. I was confused as to what she was referring to until I realized Tony and I were all alone, for the first time, as one.

"Umm, Tony?" I asked nervously.

_"Oh no, I don't like her tone. Is she going to break up with me?! Oh no. Oh no! Why? Why? And I was just about to…" _Tony's voice said in my head.

"Relax angel. I'm not breaking up with you. I would never even dream of it. I was going to ask you if we are going to share a room." I said quickly. I blushed a scarlet red, which I only did when I was talking to Tony about something embarrassing and got well, embarrassed.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I would like to if you want to." He smiled.

"Yes I do" I said trying not to sound like a child waiting for candy as my face cooled down into its normal pale white.

"You know something," he asked. I tilted my head indicating for him to go on, "I am really happy we died," He sighed and touched my face with the back of his hand, sending a fuzzy feeling throughout my body.

"Well I think I am to. I am so glad I don't have to hide from you guys anymore. And now you know why I always wore those dark sunglasses and oversized hoodies in the Sun," he looked confused, "because it hurts my eyes…" I said jogging his memory. He just smiled simply, remembering all the new things he had to be aware of. After a few moments I started talking again.

"I am worried about Emily." I told him. He nodded agreeing with me.

"I was just thinking that." Tony said.

"I know" I smiled. He laughed his musical laugh thenwe sat in silence basking in our thoughts. Eventually he pulled me into his lap with one arm and embraced me tightly. I snuggled up to his granite hard neck.

"She'll come around eventually when she realizes it was either this or real death." He said soothingly.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #20**

**I had forever, until the end of the world to spend with Tony and my friends. It made me realize how lucky I was to not have to lie to them anymore. And now look where that crash got us, living in this beautiful castle with my vampire Aunt who could probably answer any question I threw her way. It couldn't be better, other than having to drink blood that is. My luck was never this good, something was about to go wrong, I could feel it coming.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"Hey Tony," I asked. He turned his head down to my face and jumped slightly. "What?" I asked reacting to his jump.

"Your eyes. There completely black." He stuttered. I looked into his own to find that his normally liquidy green ones were also black and scary looking.

"But I just hunted like three weeks ago" I mumbled forgetting he could head every word I said.

"You did? How was it?" he asked.

"It's not fun, not fun at all. I want to talk to Melissa about something before we go get a room. Ok? " I said and took his hand.

"Lead the way" he said rising from the couch, not realizing that I was still on top of him. I slid slowly off his lap and was an inch away from hitting the ground when his strong, hard arms lifted me up bridal style.

"Wow I have never seen you fall before, you are always so graceful." He laughed.

"It comes with being a vampire and I didn't fall you made me-"he cut me off by kissing my lips with all the force he could muster. Realizing there was nothing stopping us like him having to breathe or me injecting venom into him we deepened out kiss to the point where if we were in public people would have been staring. We continued like that for a few minutes when we heard a sharp tap on the open door.

"I hate to interrupt but I heard my name so I came down here." Melissa said. Tony, being quite embarrassed put me down on the love seat beside him gently and resumed his earlier position of having his arm around my shoulders.

"Why do our eyes turn black when we need to hunt?" Tony asked getting straight to busyness and avoiding the awkward silence that should have filled the room. She sat down on the edge of the coffee table across from us and answered him.

"I think it is just a reminding device, though not needed it tells you when you need to hunt, even though the vampire would know by the itching in the back of there throat but its just another warning. It might also be a warning to others that you are dangerous as hell. Your eyes are going to be like that until we go hunting which, I think we will do once everyone is situated, now before you ask another question, are you sure that Emily girl is going to be okay?" she asked concerned.

"Actually we aren't. After she said she was okay she thought _"Of coarse I'm not alright! You just told me I am a blood sucking monster. A MONSTER, A MONSTER. And you expect me to be okay?! Why is everyone taking this so well? We are monsters. We drink blood! What the hell is wrong with them? Now everything is ruined. My wedding, my friends, my family, my life, this couldn't get worse.I wish I was dead._ _"_" I told her. She sighed.

"I am sorry she feels that was but there is only one was to kill a vampire and I wont be doing it to her and I am sure none of you would either." She said.

"Of coarse not, but just out of curiosity, how do you kill a vampire?" Tony asked.

"You have to get them in a coffin and stab there dead heart with a silver stake and leave it in, which is probably the hardest part seeing as though we have granite hard skin and after stabbing the vampire the monster inside takes full control and tries to take it out. Then you have to bolt the coffin closed with titanium nails and leave the casket in a graveyard during the daylight and the vampire will turn to stone. Then you must take them out and smash the stone, place the remnants in a jar and bury it under a tree in a graveyard by a church at midnight. If one step is missed the vampire will come back to life and be stronger than before and will most likely seek revenge on those trying to kill him/her," She said. Tony's jaw dropped. I wasn't far from the same reaction.

"But you wont be killing anyone so it doesn't matter, now what did you want to see me for?" she resumed. It took me a moment to regain my composure.

"There was something I didn't ask you years ago that I should have but didn't know. Why am I the only one able to read minds? I thought all vampires were able to read minds." I asked. She smiled gently and explained.

"If I am not mistaken, and I can assure you I am most likely not. Having something special like being able to mind read is normal in a vampire, but it varies between vampires." She told me, saying what she said but looking like she had more to say.

"And the fire thing I already figured out but why do I have it in the first place?" I asked. She shrugged having no idea. I thought on the information I had just heard then Tony asked my next question.

"Is everyone going to have a power?" Tony asked while playing with my hair.

"Its hard to say but I believe so. If you ever get a feeling of something odd in the back of your mind try and explore it and it might reveal its self." She said now deep in her own thoughts.

"Do you have a power?" I asked. She proved it to me by disappearing before my eyes.

"Wicked." Tony said.

"That's crazy." I said.

"Do you remember when we were waiting for Layla and Emily to wake up from there transformation and then when Layla tried to touch Daemon when he was changing?" she asked. I nodded yes. "Well that invisible wall you felt was also part of my power. I can create invisible force fields around myself or other people; I can become invisible and make others become invisible as well." She said proudly.

"I think that Craig boy has a power too. I believe he is an empathic, meaning he can sense and control the emotions of others around him and send out emotions of his choosing as well, but lets not worry him and his girlfriend until she accepts herself as what she is." She said she paused momentarily to see if we were going to ask anymore questions and when she saw we were not she took advantage of the moment.

"Tony, Could I have a word alone with my niece please?" she asked.

"Of coarse Ms. Rivera" he said politely and got up to leave the room.

"Oh please don't call me that, call me Melissa." She said before he left the room.

"Will do Melissa" he said and walked out into the hallway.

"What's up?" I asked.

"So how long have you and Tony been seeing each other?" she asked, smile fading.

"Since freshman year, a bit before I became a vampire, why?" I asked

"Just wondering how far you two were in your relationship." She asked staring at me intently with her grayish black eyes. She didn't seem to like him much.

"Are you asking me as an aunt or as a scientist?" I asked her. She smiled.

"A little bit of both I guess." She replied.

"Well we never did _that_ if that's what you mean. I don't think I could have handled that without killing him" I said, again silently thanking god that I was a vampire therefore couldn't blush(at least around everyone other than Tony) and look away from her stare.

"Okay mija I believe you that makes sense, you know he seems very serious about you, too serious for your age if you ask me. Do you feel the same way?" she asked me still giving me a piercing stare. I looked away momentarily contemplating my answer.

"Yes I do feel the same way maybe even stronger and I am willing to go to the ends of the earth for him." I said truthfully. He mouth turned up and into a half smile.

"Okay chichi, you two have fun. Buenos Noche mi amor." She said and left the room. On her way out I heard her say something I couldn't hear even with my vampire hearing. He entered the room and picked me up bridal style again.

"Now where were we?" he asked leaning down again. I put my hand up to his lips and he pulled away confused.

"Let's go find out room then we'll continue, that is… if you can find me." I said alluringly and jumping gracefully down from Tony's arms and running out the door and down the hallway taking the first left. I came to another long hallway lit by candles handing elegantly from the ceiling. They all went out and I heard Tony's quiet footsteps running towards me so I ran down the left side of the hallway and took a first right and ran into a room.

It was another bedroom. I walked in a few feet, closing the door behind me. It had a large palm tree fan/light hanging in the middle of the room lighting the room naturally. There was a large king sized bed covered with silky ocean blue sheets and satin pillows in the center of the room. The room its self was painted a light blue on some walls and had a mural of a beautiful tropical beach stretching throughout the room. There was a fluffy sand color area carpet covering a few feet off the bad that lead into a nice wooden floor. I slowed down to take in the beauty of it all and didn't notice the slight creaking of the door opening and Tony's' entering.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him flying through the air at me. I braced myself for a crash but never felt one. Instead we flew from the doorway and landed on top of the king sized bed.

"How did you find me so fast, I didn't make a sound" I asked. He flipped me around so that I was under him and he lay full on top of me leaving no space between us. He placed his arms around my waist and kissed my hair.

"I followed your sent" He said between kisses.

"I didn't think I had a scent" I questioned.

"Yes, you do. You smell like orange-mango, it's luscious" he said trailing kissed down my hair line and to my collar bone.

"I like this bedroom" I said wrapping my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Me too" he growled playfully and rolled us over and began kissing me again.

* *

Layla lay next to Daemon on there king sized bed in there new room.

"I haven't seen a bad side to this vampire thing yet, I still think its cool." Damson said.

"It is. I agree. I just wish Emily would give it a chance. She is always like 'accept everyone for who they are no matter what' and now she is prejudice against herself. I mean how much more ironic does it get than that?" Layla asked him.

"I don't know but I'm sure she'll come around, maybe Craig will talk some sense onto her" he replied. They both paused and looked at each other then started laughing hysterically.

"Wow, Craig, sense," she busted into another fit of laughter, shaking the bed with her, "The day he makes sense is the day Elvis comes back to life" they laughed.

* * *

"I don't believe this. Were vampires, VAMPIRES! What next the boogie man is also real…" Emily ranted on and on as she had been doing so for the past three hours.

"Honey, give it a rest you're giving me a headache." Craig said weakly but Emily just kept going and going.

"We have to drink the poor little animals that never did anything to harm us at all…" she continued

"Emily honey please, keep it in your head." He begged but she still didn't hear him.

"This is all crazy, Natalia is crazy. Her whole family is crazy! I cant believe Zaria, she just had to crash that car-"she continued.

"EMILY! CONTROL YOURSELF! WOULD YOU RATHER BE FEEDING OFF HUMANS? OR WOULD YOU RATHER BE DEAD BECAUSE THAT'S THE ALTERNATE CHOICE!" Craig yelled so loudly it could be heard throughout the castle even with out vampire hearing.

"No, no your right. I'd rather not be dead I'm sorry I didn't meant to." She stuttered quietly. Craig tried without knowing what he was doing, was sending out waves of anger and fear. His emotions were actually was giving him a headache. He lay on the leather couch in there room eyes closed but unable to sleep.

* * *

We lay on top of the bed, sheets wrinkled and pillows scattered below us. I sighed heavily. This was the start of a new life for me, the start of a new person, a new person with a new name.

"We should figure out what our names should be." Tony said as if reading my mind.

"I thought I was the mind reader?" I chuckled.

"You are and I'm not, so tell me, if you know that is." He smiled.

"Yeah I do know. If I was ever to change my name, which we are doing now, I was going to change it to something not girly and out of the ordinary so I decided on-"He cut me off.

"Sirce." He stated. I stared wide eyed at him.

"Are you sure you're not the mind reader?" I questioned, knowing I was still the mind reader because of the faint whispers in my head. I still hadn't fully mastered blocking them out. "How did you know that? What about you? What name do you want?" I asked.

"You told me once, see I listen when you talk. I want something that screams mysterious, dangerous guy, something strong. But I still don't know what." he said thinking hard.

"How about Eric?" I asked. He stared even more wide eyed than the first time.

"Eric?" he repeated. "Yeah I like that I'll think about it." he lied. I unblocked the thoughts of the others and read his mind.

_"Eric! That's awful. I have to find a way for her to pick a better name, one bearable for the nest eternity, but how do I do it without hurting her feelings?"_ he thought. I laughed, shaking the bed slightly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Your thoughts are so cute. I am glad you take my opinion into large consideration but not for something as big as a name. Eric. Gag me. That's awful as you put it., but I do have a good one." I intrigued. He made a curious face.

"How about Jagger?" I asked.

"Jagger, Jagger. I like the sound of that. That's something I can live with for the rest of eternity." He told me and placed a kiss on my cheek. "There's something else I'd like to live with for the rest of eternity." He told me. I looked into his eyes, even black still gorgeous.

"What's that?" I asked, knowing his bad pick-up line.

"You." he smiled at his own 'creativity'. I kissed him, not letting him know his lines were getting dumber by the minute.

"Why did you give me a dumb name first?" he asked.

"It was more fun for me. And I was just seeing if you would pass the test." I told him. His look went from amused to confused.

"Huh? What test?" he said.

"To see how far you would go to make me happy." I told him happily.

"Did I pass?" he said, intrigued.

"With flying colors" I said and then angled myself so I was able to kiss him. He tried to deepen the kiss but I wouldn't let him. He gave me a sad puppy dog face as I went back to my thoughts.


	11. Chapter 10 Jokes and AttemptedPersuation

CHAPTER TEN JOKES AND ATTEMPTED PERSUASION

Weeks went on with not so much as a problem though our eyes were getting darker by the day. We were also getting mean and restless. One morning, Tony and I sat on the bed just in each others arms thinking, which we had been doing often.

"We have to get up. Layla and I are going internet shopping and we are going hunting at noon remember?" I said breaking the silence. Layla, Daemon, Tony and I had talked the night before about what to do about Emily but not coming up with anything other than the next days plans.

Tony sighed and unwillingly got out of bed. I went into the bathroom and jumped into the shower, as did I with the other bathroom. I took a long shower making sure I lathered all my now permanently black, red and blonde hair well with shampoo and conditioner. I rinsed my hair, wrapped a towel around myself and jumped out, realizing I had no cloths to change into.

"Shit." I muttered. Then a hand reached in and placed a set of cloths on the countertop.

"Idioma chicka language" Melissa scolded and left. I looked at the cloths she had placed on the marble counter top. Before I could reach over and examine them I slipped and fell.

"Ugh. Damn it. Why is it that ever since everyone found out I was a vampire I'm a klutz again, I slip on tile that isn't even wet. What does that say?" I asked no one.

"I'd say 'you're only human' but that wouldn't be the right saying because you're not." Said a voice from the door. Tony entered, in baggy jeans and a blue muscle shirt, showing off his newly sculpted six pack. He lifted me off the ground as if I were as light as a feather and placed me on my feet.

"Klutz." He muttered after setting me down and leaving, closing the door behind him.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #21**

**One of the few good things about being a vampire was that you were granted extreme grace… or so I was told. I was a klutz as a human and it followed me into my vampire life, but only around Tony. There were certain human things I could do around Tony that I couldn't do around any other being suck as tripping or blushing. I don't know what this means. Maybe it means we were meant to be together, or maybe it means he has some weird power we don't know about where he can bring our the human side of vampires and the vampire side of humans… yeah maybe not, that's a bit weird (Try picturing a human hunting… it's a bit weird). But then again I am not a normal teenage vampire.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"I heard that!" I yelled through door. I walked over to the counter slowly, making sure not to fall again and examined the clothing. It was horrible. It was a pink frilly T-shirt with a yellow butterfly on the front, matching tight jean mini skirt with pink rhinestone butterflies on the pockets and butt. The worst part was the set of frilly/lacey pink underwear. Grudgingly and swearing loudly I put the cloths on quickly and walked out of the bathroom. Tony was sitting on the bed facing the wall opposite my bathroom, staring at the ground. I made as much noise as I could and walked across the room and stood right in front of him.

"Kill me." I asked him with as serious face. He lifted his head up and started hysterically laughing.

"Sorry it's to complicated, I think ill just continue to laugh until I die, which I basically can't so yeah" he rambled then began laughing again.

"If you ever want to kiss me again, and I mean not even the slightest peck, you would stop laughing now" I warned. His laughter ceased immediately and he returned to looked at the floor smiling slightly.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #22**

**In every boy girl relationship there is the one who is in charge. Males normally say its them to their buddies but know deep down the girl****had the final say in any argument and the females know that they are in charge and don't have to say anything about it. Males feel the need to express their manliness by acting stupid and controlling so getting used to it and telling them have there moment is necessary. I held the keys to the car so-to-speak in Tony and mines relationship, meaning if I said so its law. Now I am not a controlling person but if I say so (to Tony I mean) then it's done. Tony makes up for my rule by acting very controlling about guys around me… at least he did when he was human, I don't know how he feels now but I am assuming it is going to multiply. Looks like I am going to keep an eye out for all the guys at the next school we go to so that he doesn't 'accidentally' punch them and crack there skull.**

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"Come on its eight and Layla and I need at least two hours of shopping time for ourselves then we have to shop for you and Daemon which will take an hour and plus we have to find that room again which could take hours alone seeing how big this castle is." I said, grabbed the lap top from the desk on the far side of the room, took his hand and left the room. We attempted to follow our memories of where the room was but being me who forgets everything and had no sense of direction. Tony on the other hand walked the path as if he had done so many times before.

"How do you remember this so well?" I asked him as he pulled me around a corned and down a vaguely familiar dark hallway,

**___________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #23**

**I was beginning to wonder if Tony had some power he wasn't telling me about or one that he didn't realize. He was also acting a bit strange around me, more… confident in what he was about to do. I guess that's what happens when you become a vampire, its kinda fun.**

"It's like I told you yesterday remember, about your sent? Well I can smell Layla and Daemon too and they are this way." He said and pulled me down another hallway like the last and into a familiar doorway. The room was even more gorgeous in the light. The colors were brighter and the room it's self gave a comforting aura. I sat on the couch and sat in a ladylike position, which is very uncomfortable and waited. I was going to kill Melissa for making me wear this it was devastating. As if things couldn't get any worse everyone started laughing.

"Yikes Sirce, that's awful!" Daemon said, now on the floor laughing.

"Where's a camera when you need one?" Craig said doubled over in laughter.

"Up your-"I said before Tony placed his hand over my mouth and smiled. I turned to look at him only to find he was laughing too. I shot him a death glare reminding him of my threat; he immediately shut up and looked at the floor. Layla laughed slightly but not as hysterically was the boys did, and I was grateful for it.

She in fact also had the same outfit on only in a lighter shade of pink. I was suddenly overcome with the urge to laugh, as was anyone else in the room who hadn't been already.

"Stupid empathic!" I laughed. Everyone except Tony looked at me funny.

"Hablo ingles?" Craig said, chopping the syllables up horribly. I laughed at his lack of Spanish because he laughed at me for being slow sometimes. He laughed along with me and whined 'it's not funny'.

"Well yesterday after you all left Jagger and I-" there was a chorus of 'who's' when I said Jagger, "Oh Tony's new name is Jagger and mine is Sirce but lets only call each other by our new names when we are in mixed company, anyway after you left that day when you found out we were vampires I talked to Melissa about your abilities, and she told me it is common for vampires to have an ability or abilities, so mine or one of mine is that I can read the minds of others."

"Oh great no more privacy. Period." Layla joked.

"I always have been you just didn't know. But I won't be listening to anything; I have learned to block the thoughts out of my head." I assured them.

"Ok but that still doesn't explain why you called me an empathic." Craig said now extremely curious.

"It means you can sense and control the emotions of others around you and send out emotions of your choosing, like laughter. You did it by accident but the same yesterday, Emily was mad so you were mad and when you were mad and couldn't control your power you made everyone mad, which I think you did when you were transforming too because I was mad at Melissa one moment and then completely calm the next. This power will probably come in handy the way Emily switches moods. Wait how did you know I changed my name to Raven before I told you?" I asked Layla, Daemon, and Craig.

"Oh yeah well I, I can't explain how, but I zoned out for a minute and saw something I wish I never want to see again and then I saw you and Tony talking about it and your new names." He smiled. If I was human I would be dead with embarrassment by now.

"Well I think you might be able to see the future, but I can't be sure unless you tell me what time you had a vision." I told him.

"It was at like one AM I think." Layla told me.

"Yeah well I am probably right but just check with Melissa later." I told them. Daemon smiled, liking his new power..

_"That is so cool! This just keeps getting better and better!"_ Daemon thought.

_"I want to be able to move things with my mind. What do they call those? Telephoyids? Teplsids?"_ Layla thought. I laughed at her stupidity.

_"I think I already know what mine is but I am not going to think it just in case Nikki is listening, I want to surprise her with it. Oh you know it would be cool if I could go into people's brains and tell them what to do, that would be awesome!" _Tony thought. I laughed again.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #24**

**Tony was such a seventeen year old boy. No brain and a big kid at heart. That's why I loved him. He was the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. Kind, sweet, gentile, romantic, funny, entertaining, unique and just so loveable… well to me anyway. Maybe loveable wasn't the right word because he made teachers somehow hate is guts on the first day and they didn't even know him. It always bothered me but then I realized that teachers have this sense that tells them that certain kids were trouble and didn't do what they were asked and Tony was one of those people… which is probably another reason why I liked him. I was a straight A student. Never did anything bad, never missed a homework, never hesitated to ask a question, the ideal student and Tony brought out the side of me I enjoyed more and I never went back to that side again.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

_"Maybe I can get Emily to be reasonable with this power. Hum I got an idea. I am going to try out my power by sending a huge wave of love towards Tony- I mean Jagger- and see what happens."_ Craig thought. I thought it was sweet of him to try and help Emily first and not toy around with the people's feelings, well other than Tony's that is. As if on cue Tony started kissing my neck and whispering 'I love you' after each one kiss. I smiled at Craig and he smiled back in satisfaction.

"Alright Craig I think you can control it now, so can you get him offa me?" I asked him. I looked at Tony who was now kissing up and down my arm.

"Oh come on you know you like it." he joked. I smiled half-heartedly at him. I went back into Craig's thoughts momentarily.

_"Hmm I wonder…HA! He's still going and I stopped using my power! Well I'll let him have his fun but I am getting out of here if he goes any further than what he's already doing." _Craig laughed mentally.

"Tony enough, you're not under Craig's control anymore." I said pushing him away.

"I know, I'm under yours" He smiled then picked me up off the couch, held the small of my waist and kissed me deeply. He was leaning over me pressing his hips to mine tightly. Even if I had wanted to move I couldn't have. Then someone cleared there throat and Tony almost dropped me again but caught me inched before I hit the floor.

"Why does it always seem like when I fall it's your fault?" I wondered aloud. Everyone laughed. I noticed a new edition to the room.

"Tia why did you put us in these seriously skimpy and ugly cloths" I asked Melissa.

"Es muy cómico" she laughed.

"Funny to who?" I asked.

"Yo y sus amigos y sus novios." She told me. I scowled and she addressed everyone. "Buenos dias mis amores, good morning my children. How did you sleep?" she joked. Everyone chuckled.

"Ay aren't we missing un nina?" she asked.

"She… She won't listen to me. We had a fight last night, which I am sure you heard, and she won't talk or listen to me. All she did last night was lay in the bed sob, it was depressing and then this morning she wouldn't move no matter how many times I called her name or shook her." Craig sighed. Now I saw the depression he was hiding from us all.

"Well since Layla and I can't shop we'll go talk to her." I suggested.

"Yeah lets." Layla agreed and we left the room. In the room we just left there was someone counting. I realized we didn't know where we were going. I pointed it out to Layla then we went back.

"Make a right at the nearest hallway then its three doors down." Craig stated.

"Thanks fangs." I said. Everyone but Melissa looked confused.

"What did she mean by fang?" I heard Tony ask from the sitting room. I smiled then Melissa answered.

"It's a term old vampires use for young vampires like you all, thought I don't know how she knew that." Melissa said. There was a chorus of 'Oh's that faded as Layla and I ran into Emily and Craig's room.

We entered the room without knocking and were shocked with what we saw. The room was dark but with my vampire sight I saw the room as if it was well lit. It looked like it was hit with a tornado, but was probably tornado Emily. Speaking of which, she was laying on the bed in the room in a fetal position sobbing tearlessly. I looked at Layla, heart-broken and she did the same. I decided to be the first one to speak, starting with a nice understanding approach. I walked over to her bed with Layla at my side and sat down on the corner.

"Emily honey, its okay we understand. We are monsters but we can change that. We can take a different road. We are doing the right thing by hunting animals. Think about it. We could be hunting humans like we were designed to do but we aren't. Remember I have been doing this for almost three years and I know how you feel but you have to get on with your life." I said. She didn't move at all.

"Now get up. You need to hunt. I know you are feeling that itch in the back of your throat and I am sure it is getting annoying. Come on lets go everyone's waiting." Layla tried. She didn't move in the slightest. We waited for five minutes then realized we were getting nowhere

"I don't think there is much else to say." I whispered quickly to Layla. She nodded in agreement and we ran back to the sitting room. Everyone had looks of hope on there faces but the looks died as we entered the room without Emily.

"I think it would be better if we go hunting and then we'll take her later, I am surprised she hasn't gone mad with thirst yet, depression does that to you, it slows you down, even as a vampire." She told us. I nodded in understanding. "Before we go, you all need to know something. You must listen to whatever I tell you to and what I say when we get there okay? It is critical that you do that okay?" She told us. We all agreed but the fangs were slightly worried.

"Could everyone stop worrying? It's driving me crazy! I already have Emily' strong feelings of hatred and I don't need your stupid worries too!" Craig yelled. "I am going to go tell Emily that we're going." He said and ran from the room.

"His power is going to get stronger and it is going to make it worse for him. I know it's hard but try to control your emotions. If Emily doesn't come she is going to be in more pain, but we can't force her to hunt." Melissa said to no one in particular. Craig returned looking as if he would be crying. I felt a pang of guilt for him. There he was alone with no one really close to tell him everything would be alright. I moved Tony's arm from my shoulder and gave Craig a hug. He hugged my lightly back then dropped his hands to his side.

"Let's go, I don't want to leave her alone too long." Craig said.

"I agree lets." Melissa agreed and walked out the room. We all followed. She led us in a different direction this time. She walked quickly and gracefully. She led us out of a large wooden door that looked as if it could be the front door but turned out to be just the side door.

The new sight was amazing. We were walking down one of those open hallways, the ones you see in vampire movies where there is a old castle and they have to cross the bridge to save someone or something like that. I looked over the edge and stared down into a canyon with almost black water at the bottom. It was nearly visible through the thick fog but beautiful none the less. I was beautiful if you liked that sort of thing, and if not it was extremely creepy. Suddenly Melissa stopped and thought for a moment. I tried to read her mind but found nothing. I looked at her curiously.

**Vampire Note #25**

**Bear in mind I do not know my aunt well at all. I am grateful for her having us and helping me but where has she been all these years? Why wasn't she helping me from the start? Why couldn't I read her mind?**

**_____________________________________________________________________ **

"Melissa how come I can't read your mind?" I asked her. She smiled.

"Not now, it's not the time. Okay now everyone this is going to sound crazy but as I told you before. Starting now I need you to do everything I tell you to, and I am telling you to follow me." She said. We were about to question why she was repeating herself but she walked over to the side of the walkway and dove into the water.

"What the hell?! We've got to do that!" Layla yelled. I shrugged. It's not like we could die from it or anything. So I walked over to the edge, and Tony did the same.

"What are you crazy, that fall will kill you!" Daemon said.

"Actually, it won't." Tony laughed and dove in.

"See you at the bottom." I yelled as I dove in after him. I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins even though I didn't have blood and I suddenly remembered that I was afraid of heights. We were falling at break neck speed but it didn't feel any different than skydiving. Tony was having so much fun that he started flipping through the air. As he was in the middle of the flip he landed back first into the black water. I laughed then hit the water myself. For getting to take a breath as I went in, so I stopped breathing all together.

It was an odd feeling but it was just as odd as not feeling how cold or warm the water was when I hit it. As I went down I started to wonder if Zaria, Daemon and Craig followed us so I swam up to the surface.

Once I reached the surface I looked around for Melissa and Tony. Melissa stood on the shore, changed from her jeans and T-shirt to a different, dry pair of jeans and a T-shirt smiling slightly.

"Donde esta Tony? And where did you go to change to fast?" I asked her. She shrugged and then I was pulled down by something around my ankle. It pulled me far down and two arms wrapped around my waist. I smiled as a familiar face came into view inched from mine. Tony. He smiled just as widely and leaned down placing his fore head on mine. He was about to kiss me when I smiled devilishly, pushed him down hard and swam up to land as quickly as possible. He followed me but couldn't get me in time to pull me back in. He frowned in defeat and sat on a rock with a pout of his face. I went over to him and sat on his lap. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"There is no way I am going to do that it's crazy!" I heard Craig say from the bridge. I looked at Tony and smiled.

"Should we go help them off the bridge?" I asked him.

"Hold on I have a better idea, watch this." He said then removed me from his lap and got up. He stood feet away from the water then placed his palm out facing up word. I was going to question what he was doing but what I saw amazed me. The gushing rapids that were there moments ago were flattened into calm sea waves. I waited for Tony to do something else. He then in one swift movement flung his hand up and then brought it back down again facing the other way. Then I saw the most amazing sight. There was a giant title wave forming above the bridge behind Craig, Daemon and Layla. I began to laugh as the wave slowly came down on them.

"Why am I getting the feeling we aren't safe?" Craig asked.

"AH!" Daemon yelled. They turned around to see the huge wave crash down on the bridge, sending them flying off the side. Tony and I began laughing hysterically. They fell at the same speed we did, only screaming profanities all the way.

"I hate you." Layla scowled as she walked out of the water.

"We love you too." Tony and I said then laughed again. Daemon and Craig came out of the water and walked over to the rest of the group.

"That is a really cool power Tony. Now as much fun as jumping off that was what was the point of it?" I asked Melissa smiling wildly.

"It was faster than walking or even running all the way down to the garage through the castle. Oh remember when you go shopping to buy a car, you might need it when we go hunting out of the area and for when you eventually go to school." She told us. She sounded a bit funny, like she was lying. But why would she lie about something like that?

"That was so much fun and all, but now incase you didn't notice we are dripping wet!" Daemon exclaimed sarcastically.

"I brought a change of cloths for all of you down earlier, honestly you didn't think the girls were going hunting in that did you?" she asked wide-eyed.

"No I guess not." Daemon spoke softly. I sighed gratefully and waited for instruction.

"You see that bolder over there?" Layla and I nodded, "Well move it and behind it is a hallway, go into the third door on the left, and whatever you do, don't go into any other rooms." She said then addressed the boys. "You three follow them but go into the third door on the right. Be quick, its already one PM."

We ran over to the bolder and went into the rooms she told us to. It was a large but simple bathroom. It had a large open area, a alcove, a counter top with a built in sink, and a toilet. On the counter were two sets of cloths and with notes on top. I opened the note that had my name on it. 'Natalia,' it read ' hope you like these cloths better, go shopping today and remember to buy cloths for your friend and your novio, Melissa' It said. I picked up the cloths and smiled. It wasn't much better than the last outfit. It was a pair of short, orange shorts, and a yellow T-shirt with the words 'summer fun' on it. I smirked at how ironic the shirt was because there was snow all over the mountain tops. I put it on quickly and waited for Layla to put her cloths on too. She again, had the same outfit on only the colors were reversed. We smiled faintly at each other then went back the way we came. When we got outside the boys and Melissa were waiting for us. Before any of them especially Tony could laugh I stopped them.

"Tony don't you even think about it, you remember the deal." The smile that was on his disappeared and a frown was left in its place.

"Same deal goes for you too Daemon." Layla told him. He frowned.

_"Just think about why you're not laughing Tony. Think Nikki, Think Nikki. Don't think about how different she looks just think about how much better she would look with out it." _A disturbing image popped into his head and I didn't know how he imagined it or to react, so I continued listening to his thoughts. _"Good. Now I don't feel the need to laugh, but man by throat hurts more now. We need to get going."_

"Yeah we do need to get going, before Tony starts thinking too hard." I said, looking at him. He smiled sheepishly then winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Ok we are going to drive most of the way then we are going to get out and run to the spot I want you all to learn at." She said then ran off in the direction of the bathroom. We followed her down the hallway and into the last door in the hallway.


	12. Chapter 11 Hunting

CHAPTER ELEVEN HUNTING

It was a parking garage that looked like it could hold up to twenty cars. There was a large black SUV in the corner of the room along with a few other cars I didn't know the names of but looked highly expensive. We all got in, Craig in the passenger side and the rest of us in the back. Layla shuttered.

"Its okay niña, we can't die so if we crash its okay, well not for the car but you cold walk away unscathed." Melissa soothed her. I understood Layla's worry, mostly because I was feeling it too but she was the one driving the car that night. I sat in the middle, next to Tony and Layla and Daemon sat in the back. Melissa hit the CD on button and Carlos Santana started playing. I smiled widely as the others groaned. Melissa turned it up and sang alone. Soon enough I was too.

"So give me your heart or else forget about it…" I sang then sighed. This song reminded me of Emilie. I hoped she was doing alright. I tried not to linger on the topic too long because I would get upset and I don't think Craig's needed that. In no time at all we were at the end of the road and Melissa got out. We all followed.

"Stay close." She said then ran, lightening speed into the forest. We followed running directly behind her. Running was exhilarating. It made me crave to move faster and faster without thinking twice, but somehow I controlled myself. We followed her into a large clearing. Then we all stood lined up shoulder to shoulder.

"Ok I am going to show you how to first then I am going to tell you all the right things to do. Right now I need everyone to stop breathing so you won't feel the need to attack something that comes by." She instructed. We all followed her instructions, even me and stopped breathing.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #26**

**I began to remember my first hunting trip. The first ones was prey, however was not animals. I****was unable to control myself being too young and overcome by the monster to understand. I killed four people that day. I didn't stick** **around to find out who they were or even dispose of the bodies properly, let alone attempt to hide them. When those bodies were found a lot of news and stores were being passed around, but fortunately nothing about a vampire. I was just happy that my friends didn't have to slip on there diet and feel the eternal regret I do. I still remember that when I was feeding there memories, voices, emotions flooded though my body and made me feel everything they ever had to go through. It was an amazing, traumatizing and life changing experience. It made me want to do it again and again to feel the feeling of being human again, but I never would because afterwards the guilt removes those human feelings and takes over.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"Tia I am going to go off and hunt for a minute I'll be back here once I am done." I said to her. She nodded her head then began to hunt. She stood in one place momentarily then there was a noise. It had four legs and a cute white bushy tail. She crouched like a jaguar then waited for the creature to move closer. It moved slowly sensing the immediate danger it was in. In one swift movement Melissa jumped on the animal and sunk her teeth, which were now covered with a shiny clear covered substance that if you didn't know better would have said it was saliva, into the slightly suspecting animal. She drained it of life quickly then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Everyone had the same stare of disgust and horror on their faces.

I ran off into the trees where my friends weren't able see me and quickly drank three near by deer at record speed. I then ran back, not wanting to come back later and find that someone was in a catatonic state because they felt bad for killing an animal. I came back and Melissa was still talking

"Now I know this looks horrible but it is necessary. Just think that you could have taken a humans life instead, and I know you wouldn't want to do that. Now who wants to go first?" she asked. No one moved a muscle so I went over to Layla and pushed her forward. She scowled then stood in the middle of the field like Melissa. If I thought it was hard to do, it was even harder to watch.

She stood and listened for a short while then her head snapped to the right at the deer that was coming out of the forest shortly. She ran over to it and bit it. I winced feeling terrible for the animal because she forgot to kill it first. Then she tossed it to the side and ran into the forest after something I hadn't seen or heard yet. After she didn't return for five minutes

"Someone go get her, now." I said. Daemon ran into the forest and within seconds returned with a thrashing, kicking Layla.

"Let go of me!" Layla growled menacingly. Then, realizing she wasn't going to be released her arms grew limp and she didn't fight back anymore.

"Sweetie, come on its okay." Daemon said to her.

"Daemon…I'm… I'm a monster. I just… did you see…" He loosened his grip into a gentile hug instead of a restrain on her and she jumped out of it. She dropped to the floor, sitting, knees to her chest and holding her stomach, rocking back and forth.

"This if your fault you monster. You're terrible." The monster said. It echoed in my head over and over again until my mind couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm a monster. A blood sucking, cruel, harsh, soul-less monster. I have no soul. I am going straight to the fiery pits of hell. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" I yelled at the monster. It laughed back in my head then grew quiet. "I'm so sorry you guys I should have never damned you I'm so sorry you have to do this. I'm a terrible soul-less monster." I said, thinking the same.

"Its all going to be okay honey, your not a monster, it had to be done. Just hold on its all going to be alright." Tony said attempting to soothe me. He walked over to me, massaged my shoulders and lightly as I sobbed tearlessly, then I looked at Layla. She was bloody, shocked, depressed and almost in a catatonic state of depression like Emily.

"Melissa I think everyone better get done so we can get home." Tony said. Melissa nodded and Tony followed Melissa's instructions. He hunted quickly, worrying about me more than his instincts. I sat there in agony, and the word monster echoed in my head repetitively. I had sat down on the ground with my head in my hands by then and remained in the same position until Tony was done; he came back over to me and pulled me to my feet.

"Look at me," He said sternly. I didn't move. I just stood lifelessly in place, head hanging down. "Natalia Danielle Rosalia Rivera look at me. You are not a monster and you need to stop saying that. You did what you had to do and what's' done is done. There is no turning back now so get over it." He said wisely. I didn't move. "Look at me!" He said louder than I had ever heard him speak. I was shocked; Tony had never raised his voice at me before, ever.

I slowly picked my head up can faced his black eyes slowly returning to there usual deep sea green. "You are not a monster, do you hear me," I shook my head in disagreement. He was wrong, I was a monster. I dropped my head again, "Listen to me!" He yelled, much more forcibly. I still didn't move.

Then, to everyone's shock, including my own, he grabbed my chin hard, though not hurting me and forced me to look at him. "You are not a monster, you did this for our own good and if you ever so much as think the words monster again I will leave and promise you that I will never come back no matter what. Now say it. You are not a monster. Say it." He said furiously. I gave in and believed him. The stakes were too high. Loosing him would really make me an empty shell.

"I am not a monster." I mumbled.

"Again" he whispered softer but still forcefully. He looked like he could cry.

"I am not a monster." I said with all the fake confidence I could muster. Before I could say anything else Tony smashed his lips onto mine with such force it made me loose my balance and I flew backward into the grass with Tony. All too soon someone cleared there throat and we broke apart. We both wore sheepish smiles on our faces.

"Believe me now?" He said still smiling.

"I think I just might." I replied. While we were 'busy' Craig hunted without much difficulty. Once we had gotten off the ground we watched Daemon begin to hunt.

Out of no where a giant eight foot tall brown bear come into the clearing and Daemon pounced and drank with such speed and grace it was as if he had been doing it all his life. After he was done he brought the carcass over to us and placed it in the pile with the others.

Daemon lifted his nose, sniffing something even sweeter than the brown bear. It was tempting but I was full and in control. _"We need to leave. Now."_ I thought to myself. The others except Melissa were confused about what the smell was and why it was so tempting.

"Everyone get back to the car. NOW!" she yelled. Craig was about to question but I grabbed his wrist and ran as fast as I could back to the car. We all would be true vampires if we got close enough to taste it. Even though we all had just feed our eyes were coal black. I jumped in the car followed by everyone else.

"What was that?" Layla asked, eyes slowly regaining there natural hazel. I sighed and let out a deep breath.

"That…" I paused, panting though not needing to, "was human blood." I told them. They all stiffened. Then I noticed Daemon and Melissa didn't follow.

"Was that how you felt about us when we got to close when we were human?" Tony asked softly.

"It wasn't normally that bad but yes sometimes it felt like that when I hadn't hunted in a while and one of you would walk by me when I wasn't on guard. Like that time in the hallway where I pulled away and then after school we had a fight then we made up. By the way that wasn't all lies it was-"I began to trail off but something was brought to my attention. "He isn't going to be able to control himself, he's too young." I suddenly thought out loud. Everyone had equal looks of horror on there faces.

"I am going back, Melissa can't handle him, he is too strong; whatever you do don't follow me." I said and reached for the door. Tony's tattooed hand grabbed my wrist tightly.

"No you're not you-"I cut him off.

"This is not the time to play overprotective boyfriend Anthony, its time to act. I am going back, stay here." I said sternly, eyes flaming while taking my wrist back then jumping out of the car and running back into the clearing. I ran until I saw Melissa who was wrestling with Daemon. I ran over, holding my breath and helped Melissa restrain Daemon. I ran over to them and used all the force I could muster to hold his left arm and leg down to the ground.

"_Thank you but you should have listened to me, that human is still in danger with us here, we need to get Daemon back to the car and we need to leave quickly."_ She thought. I nodded then tried to pull him up. Melissa did the same but he pulled us both down. We both lost hold but we quickly grabbed him with whatever limb wasn't busy.

"I'm so sorry Daemon but this is the only way." I said to him. There was a moment of somewhat silence then flames appeared like hand cuffs around his wrists and Daemon began to moan.

"Get it off me, it hurts." He moaned.

"I'm so sorry. I am going to let it go in a second then we are going to get up and go to the car." I said to him. He nodded and came up easily but then started thrashing at everything in site.

"Were never going to make it back to the car Melissa, we need help, and I cant do the fire thing again its takes more strength and it will hurt him too much" I said quickly trying not to breathe by accident, still having control issues.

"_Call Tony. He is the strongest, tell him he needs to hold his breath and help us take him back to the car. Call him with your thoughts, hopefully it will work"_ She thought to me. I shrugged then tried. I focused hard on Tony, afraid to speak again in fear of breathing in the sent, trying to get the message through.

"_Tony come here we need your help, make sure you hold your breath and get here fast. Tell the others to have the door open and to be ready to drive. And tell Craig to drive because I know Layla won't be for a while"_ I thought to him.

Within seconds he was at my side, taking Daemon's hands and pulling them behind his back. Daemon growled and hissed viciously but Tony ran with him back to where we parked the car and right into it. Layla was sitting on the right and we placed Daemon next to her, lying down. We placed his head on her lap then Tony and I jumped into the back, closing the door behind us. Then Melissa jumped into the passenger's seat.

"Drive!" she said to Craig and he stepped on the gas petal with so much force I thought he was going to break it. I looked at the speedometer. We were going ninety but it didn't feel like it could be more than thirty. The car was silent except for the faint sound of the tires on the asphalt. I decided to check on Daemon.

"_Wow, I don't know what came over me, but whatever it was it was creepy"_ he thought.

"_Its okay Daemon, It was how I felt the first time I smelt a human only you handled it much better than I did and your blood lust was stronger. I'm proud to call you my brother." _I willed into his head so that no one could hear me but him. He smiled.

"_Thanks, that means a lot."_ He thought to me. I smiled in reply then dropped the conversation. I decided against telling him that was a very faint smell human blood and the real thing was much stronger, because it probably would have made him feel worse.

"Well that was an experience. Nik, how come you had control problems when you have been around humans before?" Tony said trying to lighten the mood then asked me.

"I was not _in_ control. I was again off guard and I had been giving into my instincts so that human was in just as much danger with me around as you." I told him then tapped into Melissa's thoughts.

"_I can't believe we almost ran into a human, I didn't want that to happen… well ever but especially not when they are so young. I hope Natalia's okay. I know how she feels. I should have just showed them to hunt on the grounds, it would have been so much safer…"_ Her thoughts were scattered so I decided to just relax and wait for the car ride to be over. My relaxation ended moments after when Craig put the radio on loudly.

"Could you lower that?" I yelled over the music after a few minutes of blaring garbage. He lowered it two numbers then went back to concentrating on the road. He was being over careful while driving, in fear of hitting something again. I was about to tell him it was okay but I wasn't so sure it was going to be. I scanned the car slowly and noticed Daemon had a blank look on his face and his eyes were unfocused. I went into his thoughts.

What I saw shocked me. It was a girl, with elbow length straight brown hair with natural red highlights, a black tank top with a rose on it. She was also wearing black low-tops jeans and bracelets, just like ours. She was also biting into the neck of another human. I saw the color slowly draining from the humans face and how the other human near that human were trembling. They were in an dark alley behind a pizza place in a town, unfamiliar to me.

"Emily." I breathed. I looked at Daemon who had just come out of his trance and shared my look of panic.


	13. Chapter 12 Tracking Emily

CHAPTER TWELVE TRACKING EMILY

"Did you see that?" he yelled frantically. I nodded not trusting myself to speak again. We needed to get home. And fast so we could prevent that from happening.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked concerned. I looked at her then nodded my head towards Daemon. She stared at him and he began to explain. By the end of his recap I was sobbing quietly, for my friend, and for us all. Tony had his arm around me and was reassuring me it was going to be okay. Craig had speed up the car to such a ridiculous speed and was staring at the road with a look of concern and anger. I wasn't sure if he was mad at her or himself but I had to make sure.

"_I shouldn't have left, I am so stupid. It's my entire fault."_ Craig thought.

_"Its okay Craig we'll be on time, don't even think on it."_ I lied back to him in his thoughts. He smiled gratefully but didn't believe me. I didn't blame him because I didn't believe myself.

It was a long ten minutes of silence before we reached the garage. Craig didn't even bother taking out the key to the car. In fact he didn't even stop the car properly. He just lightly hit the break lightly then jumped out and ran in the direction of the castle. Melissa turned around.

"I want one of you to come with me and I want to others to stay here." She said. Daemon volunteered then they jumped out of the car and ran after Craig.

_Natalia get in the passengers seat, I get the feeling that that vision is happening or is about o happen right now so be ready to take off."_ Melissa thought to me.

"Okay." I said then climbed over the middle seat with help from Tony and sat in the driver's seat. I checked the mirrors then the key to make sure the car was ready to go in under five seconds if necessary. I was glad Craig wasn't here because he would be able to stand my fear, anger, uselessness and many other emotions. I am sure the others had the same feelings as well. As if hearing my thoughts Tony took my hand in his and kissed it lightly. I relaxed slightly at the feel of his touch but the emotion overload wasn't gone. In the distance I saw three figures moving quickly toward the car.

"They're coming guys, buckle up." I told Layla and Tony. Craig returned sobbing quietly and crushing a note in his hand. He jumped in the middle seat behind me and slumped, head in hands, clutching his hair and the note in his hand at the same time.

"_Go out the way we went towards the clearing, and then make a left at the eleventh exit on the highway."_ Melissa thought to me when she got into the car. I nodded and began to drive. I looked at the mirror at Craig and Layla. Layla had placed her hand on his shoulder and reached out in front of him for the note with her other hand. She gently took it and read it to herself.

_"Dear All, I don't want to be a monster. I am running away and going back home. Don't follow me. Craig I am sorry. I love you and I am sorry this is going to hurt you so but I can't live like that. Goodbye all and have a nice eternity. Emily"_ Layla thought as she read the note. She then looked up at me and directed her thoughts at me.

_"You heard that."_ She stated with her thoughts. I looked up then looked down inconspicuously answering her. _"This is bad Nik._ _Look at Craig, he's devastated. He looks like he could be crying" _She thought while looking at her feet. I turned slightly and looked at Craig. He was a mess. His hair was pointing backwards from running and his cloths were wrinkled. He also was shaking slightly, and sobbing quietly. I faced the road again and sighed. It hurt me to see a friend in so much pain. I began to drive faster, going thirty miles over the speed limit.

_"I know we need to get there fast but we cant go this fast Natalia there are other cars on the road and the last thing we need is to be chased by the cops or crash its dangerous enough that we are this close to humans."_ Melissa thought to me. To show that I heard her I slowed down five miles and continued to do so until I was only going ten miles above the speed limit. Finally we reached the eleventh exit and I made a sharp turn into it. I followed the road into a street bazaar. I found a parking space and stopped the car.

"I think we should split up." I said. Melissa nodded, pulled out three phones, then handed each couple one.

"Daemon and Layla search around the outskirts of town you are speed dial three on every ones phone, Tony and Natalia search the west side of town you are speed dial four or every ones phone and Craig and I will search the East side we are speed dial number two okay. Understand?" We all nodded then set off in different directions.

_"Tony, hold your breath. Can you track when you do that?"_ I thought to him while we got out of the car and started walking west.

_"No I can't we'll just have to look harder."_ He thought. We walked quickly, searching for a pizza place. After five minutes we were getting nowhere.

"_I think we need to ask somebody."_ I thought to him. He looked at me, obviously thinking hard.

_"I agree but I think I should do it, your still a little shaken up, is that okay?"_ He thought. I nodded and he walked up to a random person in the market.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #27**

**I thought it was kind of funny that I was the older vampire and he was the one telling me to hold my breath so he can talk to a human. Stupid overprotective boyfriend.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

_"Excuse me but would you mind telling me where I might find a pizza place?" _he asked politely, eyes slowly growing darker.

"No habla ingles, lo siento" The person said.

_"A little help Nikki?"_ Tony begged mentally.

_"Say Donde Esta El lugar de pizza?"_ I thought to him.

"Donde esta El lugar de pizza?" Tony asked in a bad Spanish accent, making me chuckle. The man pointed down the street and then to the left.

"Gracias" Tony said then began to walk away. I caught up to him immediately and smiled slightly. He scowled back at me knowing I was making fun of his terrible accent.

We walked down the first street then turned down into a dimly lit one. In the distance were two figures. One holding the other in the air, head tilted away from the other, hanging lifelessly.


	14. Chapter 13 Powers and Sorrow

CHAPTER THIRTEEN POWERS AND SORROW

We ran with out a second thought and we jumped at the standing figure, knocking it to the ground with a noise sounding like marble smashing into marble. The figure came into clearer view as we pinned it to the ground. It was Emily, eyes blood red and a thick red substance dripping out of her mouth.

I shuttered at what she had done, and then making it worse she let out a deep growl and thrashed at me punching me square in the jaw, sending my flying into the alley wall. Tony looked up, his eyes filled with concern but I recovered and took Emily's left arm in my right and her left ankle in my left and pinned her to the ground much harder and tighter than the first time. My hands were suddenly replaced with flames and Emily began to growl more but weaken. I tried to put the full force of my power on her so it would stop her but I just couldn't force myself to be that mad. After keeping a steady fire for five minutes it slowly began to die, and Emily began to regain power.

_"Nik, call the others we need to get her out of here before she gets loose-"_ Tony thought to me was cut off and we were both thrown into the alley wall behind him. Emily got up and attacked the other human. This time I couldn't get up so easily. I slowly stood up and then fell back down again.

_"CALL THE OTHER NOW!"_ Tony yelled mentally. He had gotten up and pinned Emily's hands behind her back. I pulled out the cell phone Melissa had given us earlier and hit the second speed dial.

"We found her and we need help! She is too strong and I don't think we can take her much longer!" I yelled into the phone then snapped it shut not waiting for a reply. I slowly stood up again and four figures appeared out of nowhere. Craig and Daemon went and helped Tony restrain Emily. The three of them held her up against the wall and then there was a pop and she vanished and they all fell forward at the wall.

_"What happened? Where the hell did she go?" _They all thought. Then there was a pop from behind them and Emily began to run at the man lying on the ground. She crouched down and jumped but in mid air something remarkable happened. She froze in mid air. I looked around and saw Layla holding her hand out fingers up. Once she realized what she was doing she lowered her hand so that the back of her hand was facing up words and Emily was lowered to her feet with a look of fury on her face. Everyone else was shocked. Layla just stood in front of her, arm outstretched and Emily did nothing at all. Melissa and I walked over to the humans lying on the ground. It was bloody. Melissa leaned down and examined the bodies. Just as she was about to check the pulse of the man he started to whimper. I looked at Layla wide eyes and she looked at me the same.

"He's in so much pain Tia you have to save him." I whispered to her then went back to holding my breath. She nodded sadly then pulled her long straight black hair into a pony tail with her hand and then leaned down to the mans neck. She whispered a few inaudible words to the man then bit him in the neck. It was painful to watch knowing the pain he was going through. Strangely the man didn't yell, he just moaned every once in a while.

"We need to go back to the car and then we can think about what to do." Melissa said. We agreed and Layla and I picked up the 'dying' body. We ran back to the car so fast no human eye could have seen it. When we got to the car we placed the body in the trunk, only because there was no room anywhere else. Layla and I decided to take out the center seats so we could talk properly. The SUV looked more like a limousine than an SUV when we were done. Craig, Daemon, Tony and Emily got into the car. Emily sat in the back next to Craig. Craig was holding Emily's hand lovingly and was whispering kind words to her quietly. Daemon and Tony sat next to us on the floor. Tony pulled me into his lap, placed his arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder.

"Are you okay? You took a nasty blow." He asked, concerned as he felt my head with his hands. I winced because he hit a tender spot, but luckily he didn't notice.

"I'm fine Tony I don't think vampires can get bruises, at least not on the outside. You ok?" I asked,

"Just a little shaken up, but nothing broken." He stated.

"Likewise." I said.

"So what is the damage?" Daemon asked me.

"There is a woman dead in the back and it's bloody in the alley but nothing a couple of cans of coke can't fix." I said.

"Coke?" Everyone said.

"Coke can wash away blood and can't be traced. We need to pour it on the walls there will be no evidence." I told them.

"And the body?" Layla asked.

"I think it would be nice if it showed up for its own funeral." I said. In a few weeks we were going to report it found then have it buried before the police could find out who brought it in.

"Coke? I never would have thought of that in a million years." Melissa said.

"I guess all those classes paid off aye Nik." Tony grinned. I matched his grin but didn't feel as equally happy. It had donned on me that I was missing school right now, and that my career was ruined because I was pronounced dead. I decided to not think about that now because we had more… pressing matters.

"What classes?" Melissa asked.

"This is not the time. Later." I told her then turned to Layla.

"You know without you and your new power we couldn't have saved that mans life." I smiled at her. "Good job Lai, you really pulled though for Emily, and for us all" I told her proudly. She smiled, proud of herself too.

"Melissa how do you explain Emily disappearing, then reappearing like that? Was it your power or something else?" I asked her.

"I think she can teleport from place to place but we will have to ask her when she is in a better state." She told me. I looked at Emily. She was frozen, but not by Layla. I felt sorry for her but was absolutely furious with her. I was going to have a long talk with her when she got out of her shocked state.

"Everyone, this is going to sound like horrible news to you, but we have to go hunting again. If it wasn't necessary I wouldn't tell you to but it is." Melissa said. I groaned loudly with the others. "I am going to go take care of the blood stains, I will be back shortly, in the meantime please put the seats back." She said and then left.

"Were going shopping soon." Layla said and looked down at her outfit and scowling. I smiled at how even at a time like that Layla could think about something so off topic it was funny. We got up and placed the seats back in the car. Emily, Craig, and Daemon moved to the center seats while Tony and I sat in the backseat with the man who was transforming. Layla went into the passenger's seat and started tapping on the armrest impatiently. After a few minutes of the mans faint moans and Craig's faint whispers to Emily, Melissa got into the drivers seat silently drove home.


	15. Chapter 14 Shopping

CHAPTER FOURTEEN SHOPPING

That had been by far the longest car ride of my life, not to mention the longest day of my life. I had to watch my friends learn to hunt, tried to stop a raving vampire from killing an innocent human and learned that everyone else had powers too. I was so tired that if I could sleep I would have for days. But now that week was gone and a new week here, hopefully with much less vampire problems. Then man had was still changing even though he should have been done a week earlier, which was worrying Melissa immensely.

Tony and I decided to get some fresh air that morning instead of sitting in our room all day doing our usual various activities. We sat on the bridge that we had jumped off two weeks earlier, staring down at the navy blue water. It was a cool day much like the ones in the fall though only summer time. Not that the weather mattered much seeing as though we could never be warm or cold. I breathed the cool mountain air deeply and then let it out slowly. Then the beautiful scene was interrupted by laughter beside me.

"You are funny you know that?" Tony told me. I wore a look of confusion of my granite hard, ice cold, and pale face. He snickered. "We don't have to breathe but we still do, we hold on to so many things humans would probably want to give up just because we crave normalcy. Odd isn't it? Oh and I just had a funny idea." He told me with an amused but impish smirk on his face.

"I don't like that look it normally means you are going to do something random, Maybe you should stick to not having funny ideas or maybe ideas at all for that matter." I told him. He scowled playfully.

"Now that's not very nice. Now I definitely will do what I thought of so, have a nice drop." He smiles. Before I could blink a giant wave came up from the body of water under us and crashed down, sending me flying off the bridge and falling down into the navy blue water. It the same wave as the one that crashed down on Craig, Layla and Daemon and I silently cursed him and suddenly wished I had had Layla's telepathy so I could bring him down with me. I fell quickly and plunged into the water. It didn't feel any different than the day before so I decided to play with Tony a bit. I swam up the river, underwater and against the current with no strain until it was too shallow to swim. I took a quick look over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't following me.

After I was sure he couldn't even see my silhouette I ran out of the water and straight ahead, unaware of where I was going. I ran for about five minutes then paused observing my surroundings. I was pretty sure I was at the north side of the castle which was also the front of the castle because there was a huge elegant wooden door with a knocker the size of Tony and Daemon combined. I walked up to the door and observed the knocker closely. It was a crest of some kind. It had a tiger baring its teeth, which had a snake lying limp in its mouth with the word Vitorio engraved under it. I made a mental note to ask Melissa what it was when I saw her.

I decided to run around to the west side and into our room. I ran into the castle, through an open window and looked around. The room was a deep red with black accents. I didn't spend time looking around because I wanted to catch Tony off guard. I ran out the door and into a familiar hallway, the hallway outside Tony and mine's room. I ran into our room and dove under the bed. I waited for a few minutes and then the door creaked open. No one entered the room. I wanted to get up and look around but I was too determined to attack Tony that I chose otherwise. I waited for another few minutes then grew impatient.

"He's a stupid vampire and a tracker how hard is it to ask for a quick find?" I muttered to myself. In the middle of my mumbling I felt the floor vibrate slightly. Before I had time to figure out my cover was blown, I was pulled out from under the bed by my feet and hung upside down by the ankle.

"Gotcha!" Tony smiled widely. I pouted childishly then stuck my tongue out at him. "Well who's the child now?" He asked still holding my upside down with one hand. I pouted more and crossed my arms across my chest and looked away from him. "Aw come on Nikki I was just playin' with cha. No need to get all upset" He said sincerely and placed me, feet down on the ground gently. The moment my feet touched the ground I pounced on him and knocked him to the ground.

"Gotcha!" I said while sitting on his chest, legs on each side of him, holding his arms down. He looked momentarily confused then got the same grin on his face as the one he gave me on the bridge. I smiled nervously then shifted my weight so it was less likely for him to get up but my attempts didn't stop him. He used my sudden weight shift to his advantage and flipped us over so that he was now straddling me.

"Well this sucks." I said flatly. He chuckled then looked at me longingly. He lowered his head and rested his forehead on mine. I had forgotten how to breathe (not that I needed to) while looking into his deep sea green eyes and didn't get a chance to because he crashed his lips to mine and kissed me passionately. His hand glided across my back as I ran my hand through his hair. We kept the same position for a few minutes until I broke apart.

"Does it still suck?" He breathed in my face. I smiled lightly, still thinking about the feel of his lips on mine.

"Not at all." I replied with a toothy smile. My 'vampire' fangs were slightly larger than all my other perfectly straight teeth so they went over them slightly when I smiled, making Tony smile as well, noticing the same. He was about to kiss me again but I slid out from under him and got up.

"As much as I would like to stay in here all day with you I really need some cloths, this stuff is getting worse by the day." I stated looking down at the outfit Melissa had left in the bathroom for me today. It was another pair of short shorts only they were a purple, cream and light purple plaid. As a shirt I wore a matching purple camisole which was tight, short and revealing. I didn't understand Melissa. She didn't seem to approve of my relationship yet she put me in promiscuous cloths.

"Your right, I miss your old cloths. This," He motioned at my outfit, "is so not the Nikki I know and love… Although it is very, very sexy." He said smiling suggestively. I smiled, grabbing the lap-top I had placed on the desk then grabbing Tony's hand with my free one and strutted out the door.

"Where is Layla and Daemon's room " I asked in a silly voice. He rolled his eyes then took the lead, running down the hallway and stopping outside a door.

"What say we knock first just in case we are uh… interrupting something?" Tony asked me. I nodded then knocked sharply on the door. On the third knock Layla opened the door and looked at my outfit as I hers. We were once again dressed in the same outfit only in different colors, hers being blue, cream and a pale blue plaid. We sighed in unison. Tony and Daemon started laughing at us. We scowled at out significant others then went to sit on the black leather couch.

"What say hot topic first? Or Aerie? Or Pac Sun? I say Pac Sun." Layla said while turning on the lap top and clicking the internet icon. I did the same.

"Pac Sun. But you don't know your size. You should ask Melissa. Oh and whatever you are in Aerie is three sizes larger in Pac Sun, even with our new bodies so my guess is that your size is small because that's what mine is so in Pac Sun we are a size zero." I told her. She nodded then pulled up the website. I picked out about fifteen t-shirts, and twenty pairs of sneakers. Layla looked over at my lap top to see what I was buying then gave an odd look. "What?" I asked.

"Are you planning on not wearing pants? As much as Tony would like that, the rest of us don't." Layla joked. I scrunched up my nose and gave her a stupid face.

"You know very well that I don't like skinny jeans and the jeans in that store never look good on me, vampire or not." I told her. She sighed in disbelief but continued searching for random items. I looked at her lap top and saw she was searching bathing suits.

"What a waist of money." I muttered forgetting she could hear me.

"I heard that and it is not I am sure we will go swimming soon I mean its summer time what else is there to do?" she asked stupidly. I sighed and didn't bother to answer her stupidity. I went on the Aerie website and bought some pajamas and then some jeans at Hot Topic.

"Ok I am done with me and I am not going lingerie shopping that's your area just buy some for me, I'm gonna shop for Emily." I said with slight sadness in my voice, that didn't go unnoticed. In the blink of an eye Tony was behind me, arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"She'll come around babe it's only been a few days and that whole incident was traumatizing." He whispered in my ear, his closeness sending chills down my spine.

"I know but I am worried. She went into a catatonic state the first time she heard we were vampires and then she experienced the true hell of being a bloodthirsty monster. On top of the shock, that would have killed her, had it been almost impossible to kill a vampire." I said softly and evenly.

"Time my dear. Time heals everything." He said then walked back over to the TV he and Daemon had been yelling at earlier. "Come on that was out!" He yelled at the baseball game. I laughed along with Layla then bought a lot of cloths for Emily.

"I wonder what she is doing." Layla stated. Then her face lit up and a large smile spread across her face.

"Why is everyone giving me that look today? It can't be good. The last time I got that look I was pushed off a bridge then attacked, then… well never mind." I told her. She looked confused for a moment then regained her dangerously creepy smile. I was about to ask her what she was thinking but then hit myself in the head for not figuring out that she wanted me to read her mind sooner.

_"Don't read my mind stupid read Craig's and see what is going on."_ She snapped at me mentally. I mouthed a 'gosh!' then focused on the faint voiced in the back of my head.

_"Well at least she is moving that's a start. Maybe we should talk about what happened. But what if she goes back into that catatonic state? I don't think I can handle that again. I'll just leave her be and ask Nikki and Lai what she wants me to do later." _Craig thought. I then repeated the thought softly to Layla who smiled at her idea.

_"Now check on Emily"_ She thought. I Nodded then repeated the process.

_"Monster, No it was an accident, Monster, Monster, No I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER OK fine I am a monster I know I am horrible I don't deserve to be alive. I should be in hell. I killed a woman. KILLED! I don't deserve any of this. Not my friends, not living here, not being alive, not even Craig."_ She thought. I stopped there in fear of losing it myself. I slowly and shakily called over Tony and Daemon. Then came over quickly, knowing there was something wrong by my tone of voice.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked, slightly frantic. I just stared at the opposite wall and thought hard about what I had just heard. I was trying to build up enough composure to say her exact words. When I had finally done so, five minutes had passed and all the candles that had lit the room were out, which was probably my accidental doing. "If I had one wish, one thing, the last thing I was ever to do it would be that no good vampire would ever have to deal with that monster that lives inside of us all. What I would do to just kill it. What I would do…" I trailed off. Tony was now staring at me intently, not blinking and crouched down, eye level with me. After my rambling I slowly them her exact thoughts, trembling slightly at the word monster then continuing.

"We have to do something and soon" Daemon said. I nodded, not trusting my voice to be stable.

"Maybe we should ask Melissa. She can't fight this eternal battle forever. Eventually she will give in. Trust me. I did. It becomes irresistible. " I said.

"Did you feed on a human? When? How long did it take you to get over it?" Tony asked me insensitively. I put my head in my hands.

"When I was first changed, maybe a month old I was alone. No one told me what I was or what happened to me and to this day I don't know who did this to me. There was a girl couldn't have been more than eleven and well… I slipped. This wasn't the first time either, as for getting over it… I still haven't." I told them sadly. "See when you feed on a human something indescribable and horrifically life changing happens to you. Something I still haven't gotten over and probably never would" Tony placed his hand on my back as if saying 'I'm sorry I made you tell me that' and I let it go. "I think we should talk to Craig, after all he knows Emily the best out of us all. Maybe he knows something we don't that could help her feel better." Tony suggested.

"And if that doesn't work?" I asked quietly. They all looked around the room, searching for an answer. I observed there faces, all slightly less happy than moments earlier, all except Tony's whose face was grave. I knew he had an answer; it just was one no one wanted to hear.

"Then… we wait." He said finally. I stared down at my bare feet, feeling sorry for us all but especially for Emily and the man in the East wing, transforming into a vampire.


	16. Chapter 15 Changes

CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHANGES

Paul Sanchez died at age twenty-seven. He was very ambitious and studying to be a lawyer. Paul was 'killed' in an alley by an uncontrolled vampire, and then saved by another group of controlled vampires, but you already know his story, you were there.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #28  
We had a limited amount of information because his only identification was the contents of his wallet. He had been living in Santa Fe, New Mexico in an apartment complex. From what we could tell he wasn't a very active man, which was a benefit on our part so we didn't have too much to hide. I was getting anxious and slightly more worried because his transformation was taking an 'abnormally long time' as Melissa put it and when he finally wakes up (which would hopefully be soon) we had to explain to him what he was and I didn't think I could handle another 'Emily' episode. **

**_____________________________________________________________________**

As Layla and I continued to shop for our significant others Tony and Daemon, who were no longer watching the game but, pacing the length of the room at vampire speed. I was half shopping and half listening to everyone's thoughts. Layla's thoughts were quite shallow and uninteresting so I blocked her out. Tony and Daemon were thinking about Emily very hard and I didn't want to think about her at the moment. I was going to give Craig and Emily there privacy, seeing as though they both felt awful about the whole situation we were in.

I decided to try and see what Melissa was thinking. I sat perfectly still, closed my eyes and focused on where Melissa's voice was in the back of my head but found nothing. Then I heard a beeping noise. As I focused the beeping to see what it was and it got louder and louder until it was unbearable. I blacked out. I don't know how long but I did. Then slowly, after god knows how long I unfocused and slowly opened my eyes. I was on the ground holding my ears and we being crowded by everyone.

"Is she gonna be okay?!" Tony asked the person next to him who was still blurry to me.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Chill." I said and sat up quickly. Apparently too quickly, because I felt like a thousand tons of brick had been dropped on my head.

"What happened to you?" Tony asked, worried. I shrugged wearily. Then was lifted off the ground and placed quickly but gently on the couch. "Melissa what happened to her?" Tony asked in a rough voice.

"I am not so sure but it would help if I knew what she was doing when she fell and started screaming." She told him.

"I was trying to read your mind so I went into the voices in the back of my head and listened for yours. I heard everyone else's except it. Then I heard a deafening beeping noise. I focused harder, trying to decipher it and the beeping noise was unbearable then I woke up. Then when I tried to move and it felt like a thousand tons of bricks had fallen on my head." I told them. They all, except Melissa, looked worried. Then out of curiosity I tried to read her mind again.

_"Maybe she was reading Paul's mind. That might do it. But why would he be thinking about a beeping noise?"_ Melissa thought. I sighed in relief.

"I think that's a good explanation." I told her aloud, confusing everyone else in the room. "She thought that it might have been Paul's mind I had been reading, which makes sense to me." I told them. They agreed but Melissa still seemed unsure. She was about to object but there was a crashing noise in the distance. I got the feeling it came from Paul's room, as did everyone else. Melissa ran out of the room and down the extremely long hallway, towards a room I hadn't seen since we had gotten here. It was actually a room I was hoping to never have to visit again.

Paul was standing, holding the bed in his hands and over his head growling. Layla and I were frozen in our places with shock but thankfully Daemon and Tony weren't because when Paul decided to throw the bed at us and neither of us was going to get out of the way in time. Tony and Daemon pushed us out of the way, caught the bed then placed it gently in its original place at lightning speed. Paul had moved on to picking things off the shelves and hurling them in various directions. Once Daemon and Tony placed the bed down they restrained Paul by placing his arms around his back in a tight hold. He struggled for a few minutes then slowed to a stop. Slowly and carefully Tony and Daemon let go of Paul and moved to Layla and mines sides.

Paul stood in his place slouched slightly and staring at us intently. We were in an awkward silence and I was itching to break it, but Melissa beat me to it. She stepped forward and held out her hand.

"Hello Paul, I am Melissa Rivera. These are my… um my…" She stuttered, looking for a word to describe what we were to her.

"Were her adoptive children?" Tony said oddly. Melissa turned to him and smiled then turned back to the approaching Paul. Paul nodded then slowly stepped forward and tool Melissa's hand. After a brief shaking he stepped back quickly and nervously. I took advantage of the moment to introduce myself and the others.

"Hi and welcome. I am Natalia, call me Nikki. This is Tony," I said then pointed at him, "Layla, and Daemon." I said motioning at them as well. He nodded then stepped forward to shake my hand. The moment our hands met I felt a charge of electricity surge through my hand and the beeping noise I had heard earlier rang through my thoughts I tried to pull my hand back but I felt the same feeling I had had in the sitting room. Then an image popped into my head.

It was a boy about eleven years old and was covered in scratches, dirt and blood. He had bushy brown hair and a skinny frame. His glassed were scratched and crooked and his eyes drooped slightly. He was walking backward slowly, as if in pain but wanting to run. He walked into the bark of a tree groaning slightly then clutching his left elbow over his stomach. It looked as if it was broken but it was hard to tell. And then there was a growl. It was large and fierce, something that had to come from a large animal, a bear perhaps. Then a large, wheel sized paw with claws came out of the bush beside the tree and scraped the child's stomach, leaving it pouring out blood.

Suddenly I snapped into unfamiliar darkness, standing alone. I didn't know where I was but I wasn't in the castle anymore. And the boy. I knew that boy. He was familiar, very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it until a memory triggered its self. The memory was of my brother, David. His death was exactly like the boy in the illusion I was seeing. Then it hit me. It was him, I was remembering. Then the blackness vanished and the boy and bear came into view again.

He was now lying on the ground sobbing for his mother. I examined his features closer, just hoping to see I was wrong but I wasn't. It was my brother. The bear was now hovering over him, clawing at his face repetitively; making it bleed whatever blood was left in his body. The bear was about to take another swipe when there was stamping in the distance. It looked in the direction of the noise then ran off, leaving the boy to die in a pool of his own blood. The running had become clearer. A woman, another boy and a man came into view. The man, who was reduced to silent tears, picked up the boy and hugged him tightly. It was my father. It was all coming back to me now. My family had taken a camping trip for David's seventeenth and last birthday.

___________________________________________________________________________

**Vampire Note #29**

**My mom shut her self in her room for months, never leaving, never opening the door or windows, only once was there the slightest glimpse of her when my father built a window in the door for food to be placed into. She had spiraled into a five year depression, so had missed many events in my life as well as my other brother Tim's who died at birth. Now she had lost two children, and hopefully didn't return to her depression when I was pronounced dead. The thought made me quiver in my black combat boots.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

Before I knew what had happened the black ness returned then the room returned and I was lying on the bed, eyes closed, Tony shaking me violently.

"Nikki talk to me what the hell is going on, please speak to me." He whimpered hopelessly. I opened my eyes and saw Melissa, Layla, Tony, and Daemon hovering over the bed looking worried. I quickly stood up then looked around the room. Finding my target I flew through the air throwing a punch and sending my target flying into the wall behind him, leaving a Paul sized dent in the wall.

"How did you do that?" I growled menacingly then lunged forward again. I punched him in the face the realizing it wasn't doing anything I set his arms on fire. He screamed, like he was dying a painful slow death. Before I could set the rest of him on fire a strong pair of arms locked around my waist

"Let me go I am going to kill him!" I yelled Tony, who had restrained me. Then suddenly I lost it. My powers got the better of me and my arms and legs went up in flames. Tony snatched his hands away cursing under his breath.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #30**

**The fire I could produce was cursed fire. It would burn through anything and everything if it had the chance to, even me. It was truly a curse. It hurt me as well as others and if it wasn't controlled properly it could destroy everything. I feared it myself and i was the one who had to control it… well sort of. I hoped I didn't pass this trait on to Tony because it is one big pain in the ass to tame. He seemed to get something having to do with water which might just be his own power that he didn't get from anyone, unless I could control water too.**

**When a vampire changes a human into a vampire they tend to pass on their abilities so Tony has a slight chance of getting my mind reading powers or my cursed fire. I hope it was neither.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

The fire had slowly crept up to my neck and was going to over take the rest of my body but I felt a cool wet feeling come over me. My arms and legs died down until my whole body was controlled. Tony had used his power to get water and pour it on me, making me defuse and when I did he restrained me again. I still was furious , smoking and drenched and began to struggle out of Tony's grasp.

"What did he do to you? Calm down you need to stop!" He yelled back at me. I struggled for a few minutes then stopped, figuring out I couldn't break out of his hold. He slowly let go then eventually dropped his hands to his side, staring at me wide-eyed. Before anyone could grab me again, or so I thought, I lunged at Paul again, arms stretched out in front of me, preparing to strangle him though knowing it would not kill him, but was stopped by an invisible force holding my in place.

"Layla let go of me!" I growled loudly. She shook her head.

"Nikki, you need to calm down. I am going to place you on the bed and then you are going to tell us what is going on." Layla said slowly then attempted to move me onto the bed. I stood strong, not letting her move me in the slightest.

"Lai move her!" Some yelled.

"I can't, she is resisting!" She yelled back the person, struggling to keep her hold in the first place. Finally her hold broke and I was about to jump a Paul again but there was a 'pop' and then a voice I hadn't heard in weeks stopped me.

"Nikki, what's going on?" Emily said appearing from nowhere. I stopped in my tracks, with no help from anyone this time. I looked at her. She was a mess, hair going every which way, cloths wrinkled and looked more tired than I had even thought possible. I just stared, amazed, confused, infuriated, and joyous all at the same time. I then broke my stare ran over to her and hugged her as tightly as I could, then let go remembering what had been happening moments before. The rage then grew inside of me and I looked at Paul who had no expression what-so-ever then stared with the utmost loathing, growling.

"What the hell is going on here?" Paul asked innocently confused. His voice enraged me even more.

"What the hell is going on here? What the hell is going on here! Like you don't know! How the hell did you do that? How did you know? I have never told anyone that!" I shrieked at him.

"I think perhaps it would be best if we all calmed down and talked about what is going on." Melissa said trying to pull off a calm voice but sounded slightly edgy.

"Sounds like my area of expertise." Craig said and walked into the room with a wave of calmness. As much as I didn't want to I was calmed slightly, yet still not enough to not want to kill Paul.

"This is definitely not the time for jokes Craig." I growled viciously but clearly. I calmed a bit more as he sent more calmness throughout the room but I was still tense. Melissa motioned for us all to follow her. Paul walked at her side, as far away from me and Emily as possible while the others followed. I was about to follow but Tony pulled me back and shut the door. I stood and waited while he paced slightly holding the bridge of his nose.

"You kept saying, 'Don't kill David, Don't kill David!' and 'No David, No don't leave me please no, no, I love you I'm sorry.'" he told me, slowing to a stop a foot in front of me. I looked down, biting my quivering lower lip hard. "What happened? And… Who is David?" He asked me staring at me. I let out a sob, slowly sank to the floor, and help my knees to my chest. I couldn't speak. It was a touchy subject with me, but I had to tell him, for many reasons.

"_I knew this was too good to be true. No girl is beautiful, trustworthy, funny, loveable and truthful. I must have been out of my mind thinking she was different. She never loved me, she loved this David person. I am such an idiot."_ Tony's thoughts screamed at me. I shuddered at them.

"Tony no, no. I did love David. But I love you too. I am truthful, just listen." I pleaded.

"No. I'm done listening. Goodbye. Don't talk to me. I don't want to see you, ever again." He said, then ran out of the room, not looking back at all and off down a hallway that I didn't know what lead to. I sat there and sobbed tearlessly for minutes, maybe hours, I didn't know and I didn't care. I had just lost the most important thing to me in the world and all I could do was cry.


	17. Chapter 16 Writers Block

CHAPTER SIXTEEN WRITERS BLOCK

Somehow I had ended up in my bed, alone. Tired, yet unable to sleep. Scared, with no comfort or reason. I was nothing. I didn't make an effort to move or speak. I didn't even know what day or time it was and again had no interest. I was alone. I felt unprotected. I had no one. No one to hold, no one to tell me everything was going to be okay. Nothing, I just laid there uselessly spiraling into depression.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #31**

**Depression takes a toll on you. It breaks you down mentally and physically and it doesn't go easy on you. I had lost basically the only thing that made life worth living, so what was the point of living. Now I knew I couldn't kill myself because it was just all out too complicated so I settled for this. It wasn't the best alternative but I had a way to make it worse.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

Interrupting my rapidly increasing depression there was a sharp knock on the door then a creak indicating whoever was there had entered. There footsteps were soft and quiet, almost inaudible. Then the bed sunk down slightly and the figure sat in front of my face, stroking my hair lightly.

"Sweetie, you need to get up. It's been two months and you haven't done anything. I am surprised you didn't die of withdrawal yet. We are going to go to the kitchen and get you some blood then I'll show you something that might make you feel better." A velvety Spanish voice purred. I didn't want to move but she pulled the sheets off the bed and let them fall limply to the floor. "Come, muevate ahora." Melissa said, pulling me out of bed. Eventually I gave in to her pulling and got up.

I probably looked awful but I didn't matter anymore seeing as though I wasn't trying to look good for anyone any more. She grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the south wing and into the kitchen. I had never been in the south wing so therefore never in the kitchen. It actually never occurred to me that there was a kitchen in the castle. She made me sit on one of the stools on the island in the middle of the huge modern kitchen. She went into the stainless steel fridge and pulled out a milk jug filled with a think red substance I had come to know and crave as blood. She took a glass out of the wooden cabinet about the sink and poured the blood into the glass. She then slid it across the counter to me and I chugged it down quickly.

Instantly I felt better. I felt like I could move a bit more willingly, and without help. I then got up and ran around the island several times. It got the blood flowing through my veins and I felt a bit more alive than I had earlier. I then went into the fridge to look for something I doubted she had and was surprised to find it. I pulled out a can of red bull from the six pack and shook it up. I opened it and watched Melissa out of the corner of my eye staring at me.

I popped open the can and drank slowly. Fire, so much fire. I welcomed it. The flaming sensation that was torturing my body was comforting; it was making everything make sense. Everything suddenly had a purpose again. I then took out another can and chugged it.

This time I'm sure I screamed, and I'm not the screaming type. I knew chugging it was even more painful, but obviously I wasn't thinking straight. Down it went into my veins and out came my screams. The pain was inviting, almost calming in a way. Melissa sped over to me and began checking me for sickness such as touching my forehead with the back of her hand and things like that. Smiling wickedly I took out another red bull and did the same. This time Layla came into the room, hearing my scream earlier. She looked at me with a worried and confused expression on her face. No one knew about my form of torture so they were all confused. Eventually Melissa figured that the Red Bull was doing something to me and took it from me. I was still smiling insanely, still having that feeling of pain flowing through my veins. Then the pain decreased until it was faint, then gone, along with my smile.

"I'm not going to even ask, just come with me." She said. I followed her, noticing Layla had disappeared. The feeling of nothingness was creeping back into me as we walked though the hallways. Eventually we entered a dark room. I could see what was in it if I hadn't been so out of it with my senses so she switched the lights on and my jaw dropped. There was a recording studio in the corner of the room along with a sound proof room. The stage covered most of the room because it was on the center. There were marble stairs all over it making it possible to get on the stage from any angle.

In the left corner was a half a wall full of CDs and half full of guitars. On the lower-most row of guitars hung my Ibanez and my Schecter Damir which brought back some memories, painful and enjoyable. In the center of the room was a sitting area with three love seats, one black leather, one blue suede, and one furry red one. In the middle there was a glass table with black legs that fit the room perfectly.

The walls were black which made the room quite dark but to my liking. There was a desk with a simple lamp, a pad of paper, and a fountain pen next to it. The wall facing the mountains wasn't a wall at all. It was a large window, like the window in the room I first woke up in as a vampire. It faced breath-taking snow covered mountains and a large creek flowing with the same black water as under the bridge as far as the eye could see. I managed a half smile, which had been good enough for Melissa.

"Your friends told me you would write and play your brains out when you were mad or sad so I made sure the room was done quicker hence the plain black walls. I will leave you to your creativity, the guitar picks are in the top right desk drawer and there are more pads of paper and pencils in the desk drawers. Have fun." She said then left the room.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #32**

**It was true I did write songs when I was feeling something strongly. I remember I was mad a Tony once, though I don't remember why, and I shut myself in my room, plugged my amplifier in, placed the headphones in the amplifier and played. I couldn't hear anything below a yell for the next week. It did make me feel better though, that's why I didn't go straight back to my room (Not that I could have knowing my sense of direction), because I knew I'd feel better (or worse) after I was done playing.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

I walked over to the wall and picked my Schecter Damir off it then went over to the desk and plopped down into the leather desk chair. I was about to begin writing but found that every time I went to press the pen down to the paper nothing came out. I sighed then gave up writing entirely. I picked up the guitar and searched for an amplifier. When I couldn't find one I scanned the room and found a closet. I went over to it then opened it. It was a large closet containing different types of amplifiers and other sound systems. I pulled out the one closest to me, dragged it over to the stage, facing the window, and then plugged in my guitar.

I started out playing the beginning of Here I stand by Madina Lake then I trailed off and the sound got harder and rougher. I was playing what I was feeling. The sound was vicious but slightly lulling. I began to hum along with the beat I had created then found some words to somewhat fit in.

"I didn't mean to hurt you,

I didn't mean not to tell you,

I wasn't trying to keep it from you

It was just too hard for me to tell you

I lost him young

At age sixteen

Now it's begun- No no that sounds awful" I said to myself. I tried again only this time with something fast but not as rough.

"I'm sorry I can't be perfect

I wanted to tell you

But couldn't bring myself to

This story isn't fun

And its got a horrible ending

But if you are still listening

I'll let you in on something

It wasn't anyone's fault, not even his own

Besides how in the world could he have known

His life was to end so painful and unexpected

He battled it out until the end

But it wasn't enough so same him- ugh this is horrible too!" I said loudly, kicking the air. I decided to just play. To play until my fingers fell off and my brain wouldn't work anymore, so I started playing what I knew.

"'Cuz we lost it all  
Nothing lasts forever  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect  
Now it's just too late and  
We can't go back  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect

try not to think  
About the pain I feel inside  
Did you know you used to be my hero?  
All the days you spend with me  
now seem so far away  
and it feels like you don't care anymore" I finished. If I hadn't already been carrying I would have harder (again hypothetically that is, I still can't cry). I began to sing whatever came to my head but got even more frustrated.

"Ugh there is a reason we have a writer for the band and not me, and this is it." I sang then muttered. I wrote it down quickly leaving out the last verse I had sung. Then I played hard for a very long time then the music turned into a ghostly whisper. It was so loud but there was something in it that made it eerily quiet if not mysterious. Eventually I couldn't think of another verse to put in so I placed the guitar back onto the wall then sat down and wrote the rest of my feelings out, only this time in a letter.

"Dear whoever gets this,

Tony hates me. He doesn't even know what's going on. He thinks David was my boyfriend or someone I loved like the way I love him. He didn't give me a chance to say was that David was my brother who died. I wish he knew. He would understand. I know him better than that. He was always the jealous type but we never broke up about it before. Its all my fault. I should have told him. He tells me everything and I kept something so important from him. I am horrible. I didn't deserve him. I DON'T deserve him. I should just go crawl in a hole and die. Too bad I can't freaking die though!" I sobbed momentarily then continued. "Thank you for listening to my pathetic problems and I hope your life isn't as screwed up as mine is. Thank you for listening,

Nikki" I wrote.

I sat and stared out the window, wishing now more than ever, that I could sleep my problems away.

* * *

Tony sat alone in another bedroom on the large king sized bed, placed in the middle of the room. He sat legs crossed in a pretzel like posture, staring at his lap and his head in his hands.

"How could I have been so stupid? She never loved me? How could she. I am so boring. But I thought I knew her. She told me everything or at least I thought she did. And to think I wasted three years on her. God I can't even say I wasted them. We were the perfect couple, never fought, hopelessly in love, and always trusted each other," He sighed deeply, "or at least so I thought. And now we have to spend the rest of eternity avoiding each other. I need to forget about all of this and just forget about her." He said, trying to convince himself to forget about everything. "I need to do something, something to keep my mind off her, off all of this." he said to himself. Then an idea sparked in his mind and he raced out the room to find Melissa. After a few minutes of tracking her he found her reading in the sitting room. He stood there and waited for her to acknowledge his presence but it never came. He grew impatient then spoke.

"Melissa where is my guitar?" He asked politely. She looked up then scowled at him.

"It's in the south wing, follow the music." She snapped then returned to her book. Tony, not wanting to bother her further in fear of getting yelled at further, walked out the room and closed the door. He stood there, contemplating the meaning of what she had just told him, and then the answer came to him, loudly. Down the one of the many halls was the faint sound of guitar playing. He followed the sound to the outside of a door in the south wing he had never seen before (mainly because they hadn't been allowed in the south wing until now) so he was cautious. He stood outside the door and listened.

"'Cuz we lost it all  
Nothing lasts forever  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect  
Now it's just too late and  
We can't go back  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect

try not to think  
About the pain I feel inside  
Did you know you used to be my hero?  
All the days you spend with me  
now seem so far away  
and it feels like you don't care anymore"

"Ugh there is a reason we have a writer for the band and not me, and this is it." The angelic voice sang. It was Nikki, his Nikki, and Tony new it. He listened carefully to her words and made sense of them.

"She never cheated on me?" he mouthed astonished, then listened harder. She was writing and speaking out loud.

"Dear whoever gets this, Tony hates me." She said. He wanted to protest but help his mouth shut listening even harder than necessary. "He doesn't even know what's going on. He thinks David was my boyfriend or someone I loved like the way I love him. What he didn't give me a chance to say was that David was my seventeen year old brother who died." Tony's eyes bulged, feeling stupid and selfish. "I wish he knew. He would understand. I know him better than that. He was always the jealous type but we never broke up about it before. It's my entire fault. I should have told him. He tells me everything and I kept something so important from him. I am horrible. I didn't deserve him. I DON'T deserve him."

He couldn't take it. Her selflessness was itching away at him. He wanted more than ever to comfort her but was afraid of her reaction. "I should just go crawl in a hole and die. Too bad I can't freaking die though! I would give anything to be in his arms, just for a second." She sobbed momentarily then continued. "Thank you for listening to my pathetic problems and I hope your life isn't as screwed up as mine is. , Nikki" She finished. He heard the squeaking of a chair then all was still. He contemplated on wither to go in and apologize or to walk away and pretend like nothing happened. Then after thinking over his options he made a choice that he hoped he wouldn't regret later on.


	18. Chapter 17 A Sad Story

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN A SAD STORY

I sat in the chair for a moment then heard the doorknob turn. I didn't bother to look who it was because I knew who it wasn't. There were footsteps moving towards me but again I didn't care enough to look. The voice I was almost positive I would never hear again, the voice I had craved for months spoke.

"I'm sorry. I should have let you explain. I shouldn't have gotten jealous over anything. I can't believe I wasted all this time away from you. You don't have to tell me the story anymore, if it's too upsetting for you." He said.

I turned around, not believing my own ears, but they were not deceiving me, that is, unless my sight was as well. He walked over to my side of the desk and held his hand out, only helping me up out of the chair. I took his hand and melted into his arms and stood there, enjoying what I had right then and there. Then making the moment all the more complete he took my chin in his hands and looked down on me. "I am forever sorry. Please forgive me." He breathed into my face. I was dazed for a moment then I looked into his eyes, releasing all the feelings of self pity and angst out as possible, and then smiled. He did the same then leaned down further, leaving an inch between our faces. I stared into his eyes waiting then grew impatient and stepped on my tipi-toes and pressed my lips onto his. I had forgotten how nice it felt to be loved so much. He seemed to think along the same lines then opened his mouth, deepening out kiss. I did the same, pulling him closer and placing my hands around his neck. We kissed without another thought and remained in the same position for what felt like eternity then we finally broke apart. He placed his fore-head on mine then smiled his classic smile. I had really missed that.

"That song of yours really needs work." He said, keeping the smile across his face. I made a childish face then smiled equally as large.

"It was awful, that wasn't a song and never will be." I told him. He shrugged then sat in the chair and placed me on his lap sideways. I smiled wider as he turned the chair to face the window. We sat for a few minutes then I decided to use the powers I had been neglecting since… well you know.

_"I want to ask her about the story but I don't know when. What brought it up like that? And what the hell happened that day? Maybe I'll ask Layla she might know" _He thought. My smiled faded then I placed my head on his chest.

"I was thirteen, David and Matt and James were seven. My father decided it would be fun to go camping for my brother's seventeenth birthday and he agreed. David had always liked the outdoors but had never been camping before. We all went, though not wanting to go myself. I went and had fun that is until Saturday night. You and I had had a fight over the phone and hadn't speaking for a few days so I was in the tent most of the time writing songs for triple F." I spoke. He nodded staring at me intently.

"We left on a Friday, the day before his birthday, and were to return on Sunday. Saturday night we were having a campfire and needed more wood. My brother volunteered to get it so I went with him to make sure he didn't get lost. We had separated for a little to get more tinder faster but were a good twenty feet away from each other. Then there was a large amount of rustling and a growl that sounded like it had come from a huge animal. I quietly walked over to David to tell him that we needed to leave then stopped behind a tree and saw the most terrifying sight I had ever seen. I was too frightened and shocked to move so I stood there crying silently and watched my brother die. And I think you can figure out the next parts so I'll skip some." He nodded slowly then I continued slowly, keeping my composure.

"Then the burial came and then the depression. My mother wasn't my mother for five years. Five whole years Tony, five years," I said, now crying tearlessly, "She stayed locked up in her room, shades and windows closed, day and night. Even the smallest bits of light would set her off. We had to install a dog door to ensure she could get food when it was time to eat. I had to watch that, for five years. Then my dad was also never much of a help because he had to work, and I don't blame them for that but I was in charge of a lot of things at home for a very long time." I told him. He looked at me sorrow in his eyes and expression.

"Then when I was sixteen, December tenth I got the answer to the prayer I had been praying for, my mother. She just came around, like magic. It was the best early-Christmas-late-birthday gift I could have even gotten. And fortunately my vampric features didn't seem strange to her because she hadn't seen me in five years. And that is my story." I told him, sounding very cliched. He was shocked. "Don't feel sorry for me, I was sorry enough for myself and I have the scars to prove it. It was then and this is now. I feel awful for not telling you but I couldn't bare it. If I had been human just now I would have been crying hysterically." I told him. He then kissed the top of my head and put his arms around me.

"I knew I had a strong girl. You rock you know that. I am sorry you had to tell me that and I will never make you do anything like that ever again, I promise." He told me. I smiled but didn't reply. "Umm… Nikki?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I said nervously.

"Can we go back to living in the same room?" He asked nervously. I smiled then planted a sweet kiss on his neck. He took it as a yes then asked his more serious question. "Um. What made you remember that? What made you attack Paul?" He asked. I sighed in relief, fearing what he was going to say was something dreadful.

"When I touched his hand the beeping noise I had heard earlier came back and a charge of electricity shot though my hand then the bricks fell on my head again. I don't know what happened but that whole scene came into my head again. I had to watch it all again from my point of view that day. It was scarier the second time. It was so… vivid. I felt like I was really there again. And then it was dark and I couldn't see at all. It was like that for a few moments then I saw the rest of my family. Then the darkness returned and I woke up. Then figured out it was Paul's fault. It was the only logical explanation so I attacked first and thought later." I told him. He nodded in agreement and didn't scold me at all for attacking Paul. Then he stiffened, growled and his eyes turned black.

"Tony?" I waved my hand in-front of his face, "Tony? Come back to earth honey, I know you are mad, I am too but we need answers now then we can kill him later." I soothed him. He relaxed but eyes remained a terrifying vampire black.

"I know you don't want to hear this but you need to hunt… like today. Your eyes are pitch black, it's terrifying but redicoulously sexy." He said with a sly smile on his face. I gave him a toothy grin then got up.

"I agree but I want to ask Melissa about Paul. Oh so how did he take the whole vampire thing?" I asked him. His smile lowed slightly.

"Well he hates Emily for causing him this but I think he is okay now. He hates Craig for being with Emily. He is scared of you; I think your first encounter scarred him for his eternal life. He doesn't like me because I am your boyfriend. Craig said his emotions changed from time to time, probably because he was remembering something from his human life but only you would know that. Oh but get this Craig said that he likes Melissa, I mean like, like-likes her." He told me looking like a sixteen-year-old gossiping girl. I stared at him with a blank expression.

"Wow" was all I could say.

"Yeah I know, but I don't know how she feels. Craig wouldn't tell me. Bastard, But then again you could find that out easily. Lets go talk to everyone shall we?" He asked. I agreed then we walked out of the room hand in hand.

"You know something?" I asked him. He turned his head to look at me.

"What?" He asked.

"If you hadn't come, I would have been stuck in that room for who knows how long." I told him. He was confused then showed his understanding by laughing.

"Is that really all it will take to stop you? Man I am going to have to make you a map of this place so you won't get lost going to the bathroom or something." He joked. I laughed as he ran, pulling me along with him.


	19. Chapter 18 Heated Conversations

CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN HEATED CONVERSATIONS

Daemon and Layla were already in the sitting room on one of the black leather couches talking about something in hushed tones and in depth.

"Wow I thought we were never going to see either of you again, let alone together!!" Daemon joked. He knew we would make up, he must have seen it earlier. I smiled then read his thoughts.

_"I am so glad they are back, just as I saw it WE ARE BACK BABY!"_ He shouted in his thoughts. I laughed then placed my head on Tony's shoulder.

"So how are we going to get everyone here, seeing as though Paul is terrified of you and hates Emily, you, Craig and Tony. And Craig and Emily haven't come out of there room for days?" Layla asked.

"How did you know we wanted to talk to everyone?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Saw it. And let me tell you this is going to be a heated conversation." He told me then looked directly into my eyes. He was remembering the vision so I could see it.

Everyone was heated like he had said. Emily and Craig stood in the corner of the room by the couch by the fireplace, arms folded across there chests and both wearing a scowl on there faces. Tony was staring out into space while sitting in one of the love seats. I was standing, tips of my hair aflame, staring at Paul intently. Melissa was sitting on the couch next to him, staring back and forth between Paul and I. Layla and Daemon were in another intent conversation in the far corner of the room. I snapped out of his mind then looked at him confused. He shrugged then returned to his conversation with Layla.

"Umm… I guess someone should go get everyone else." I said, hinting that Tony should do it. He nodded then left the room in less than three seconds. He returned moments later with Emily and Craig then left again. Emily smiled at me then took a seat on one of the love seats. I went and sat next to her.

"Hey. How have things been?" I asked her. She smiled weakly then answered.

"I have had worse. I missed you. I thought we lost you for good, I have never seen you like that. It was so… weird. I have never seen someone so… strong and together fall apart like that. You were the last person I thought that would happen to." She said. It was my turn to smile weakly.

"We need to talk later ok?" I said. She nodded. Tony had just entered the room with Melissa and Paul was standing at the door looking unsure.

"Sit down." I said to everyone softly but strictly. Emily and Craig sat down on the same couch, and Tony sat down on the one next to it, motioning me to sit next to him. I gave him the one minute sign then walked over to the door and stood a few feet away from Paul and Melissa. She grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him to the other remaining empty couch on that side of the room but he wouldn't move.

"I am not going anywhere until the blonde moves back and the brunette is miles away from me." He said. I growled slightly then went over next to Tony and sat on the arm of the chair furthest away from where he would be sitting and told Emily to move further away form him. Emily stood up, moved over to the couch by the fireplace and stood arms crossed, scowl on her face. Craig did the same. Paul cautiously moved over to the couch closest to the window then sat, tensely next to Melissa.

"Well if you don't know why were here I'll tell you. Tony and I need some… explanations, so Paul if you will, do explain what the hell you did to me." I said voice rising with every few words. Then the room was calm and I sent a death glare at Craig, he smiled back. I looked at Melissa waiting. She seemed unsure, but I couldn't tell why. Paul had the same look on his face.

"You can't tell me you haven't figured this out yet! It's been weeks, months even!" I said loudly. I felt the tips of my hair burning and finally flaming up and Tony placing a hand on my shoulder, massaging it slightly and they went away. I relaxed slightly then looked at Paul. He was sitting with a blank expression on his face, which made me more furious each second. "Do you know what you put me though? Do you?" I said softly but deadly. He still stared in no particular direction with a blank expression. "I have to re-live my brother's death. Re-live! I already had to see it once and you made me see it again. How?" I yelled, finally loosing it all together and hands flaming up. I threw the fireball that had formed in my hand at the three candles on the table in front of us, just to get rid of them. He shrugged subtly causing me to tremble in fury.

"You caused Tony to break up with me. You caused my months of depression and lifelessness. You caused him depression and questioning of my trust. And most importantly you made me see my brother's death again. What kind of sick and twisted bastard does that? Now tell me what the hell you did!" I shouted.

"Natalia we don't know. I can't figure it out unless you describe what happened." Melissa thought to me.

"No I can't do it again," I said getting up, causing Paul to flinch and Tony's hand to drop from my shoulder. "He needs to figure how what the hell he did to me, and now." I replied out loud.

"Natalia you don't get it. It is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to figure out what happened if we don't know, so unless you can figure it out by yourself you need to tell us what happened." She thought back to me. I sighed then moved over to sit on Tony's lap. He placed his arms around me, much to Melissa's dislike, then whispered encouraging words in my ear. I nodded at them then slowly told them the story.

"It was almost as if I was there again, it was so real. But there was something inside me that knew it wasn't. Something that told me it was not real but it was so realistic it could have been. That something kept me from going insane." I said after I finished the story.

Melissa looked deep in thought. I could feel that the others felt sorry for me, which I hated almost as much as I hated Paul. "Stop it everyone. Feeling sorry for me is making Craig feel sorry for me therefore making us all sorry losers because of the damn empathy and I don't want your sympathy. It was my fault and I take the blame. I don't want anything else ever said about this ever again and no more sympathy." I said sternly. Then nodded, even Tony who had his face in my hair nodded.

"Maybe you were taken back in time?" Daemon suggested. I nodded no.

"It was not that real. It was like… almost as if it was a…" I rambled aloud. Then it hit me. _"That makes sense, an illusion. The blackout was when he was trying to stop it but couldn't. It would make so much more sense if it happened again, but not to me this time so we could get a second opinion."_ I thought.

"Yeah if it happened again then we would know for sure." Tony said. I looked at him bewildered.

"How did you just-"I said not able to finish my sentence because I was too confused. He shrugged.

"It was like you were yelling your thoughts out loud, at least for me anyway." He said. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"Ok I am not going to worry about that now. Look. I think he can make illusions but again I can't be sure unless someone else gets a taste of his power-"I was cut off by just that. We were suddenly on a deserted beach, standing in swim suits and flip-flops, girls in different color bikinis and boys in swim trunks, on hot sand. You could feel the sand between your toes and the cool breeze. Everyone was shocked.

"Yo this dude is awesome!" Daemon said while checking out Layla's bathing suit. She hit him on the head then laughed. I looked around the noticed that Paul wasn't there, proving that he was causing this and he could create illusions. I smiled in satisfaction then was pulled into darkness along with the others.

"Natalia is this what you saw?" Melissa said. I nodded, smile fading. Then we snapped back into the sitting room, all in our original places. Paul looked drained. His brown eyes were charcoal gray, and droopy. "Thank you Paul." Melissa said with lightness in her voice I hadn't heard from her before. It was a sweet, flirty voice that reminded me of what Daemon had said earlier. I smiled then took Tony's arms and put them around me. He smiled, pulled me into his lap, and then placed his chin on my shoulder and his cheek next to mine.

_"Did you hear that?"_ He thought smiling widely. I smiled in return then replied.

_"I still hate him. Or at least I am going to for a while, until this memory stops haunting me."_ I told him with my thoughts. He smiled even wider, confusing me. "What?" I asked referring to his smile.

_"I was just thinking of what I could do to get you to forget it, at least for the time being."_ He thought then kissed my neck a few times. I shivered then smiled again.

"Behave; there are people in the room." I warned him. I didn't want anyone to see our affection, no matter how mild it was in public, but it didn't bother Tony in the slightest. It bothered me especially because Melissa was in the room but she didn't seem to notice so I relaxed. He stopped eventually then placed his chin on my shoulder again. Minutes passed and no one said anything so I decided it was time to go have some hard earned fun.

"Hey guys?" I said. Everyone but Melissa and Paul looked at me. "I am in need of some fire. How 'bout one hour?" I said. Everyone smiled.

"Wait but where is the stuff?" Layla asked. I smiled.

"We'll come and get you in an hour just go back to your rooms." I said. They began to leave. "Emily wait. Let's go for a walk." I said. She knew what I had to say, she just didn't want to hear it.

"Tony, sweetie in an hour get everyone and bring them to the room ok?" I told him.

"Sure babe but are you going to be able to get to the room by yourself?" He mocked me. I made a face at him, and he smiled. "Um. What should I do in the mean time?" He asked. I thought about it.

"We need cars don't we." I said speaking to no one in particular. "Buy us two cars. One you me one for you and make them fast. Trust me you'll want it to go as fast as possible. You know what I like, I trust you." I told him. I grabbed Emily's hand, kissed Tony on the cheek then dragged her out of the room. I ran us into the music room, surprising myself by not getting lost. I let Emily bask in it for a few minutes then flopped down on the red fuzzy couch. Emily then did the same.

"What were you thinking?" I asked her. She knew what I meant. "What were you thinking that day when you left? Do you know what that could have caused?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I… I wasn't thinking clearly obviously if that's what you mean. I remember thinking I needed to get out of here and to somewhere where I wouldn't be found, like home. I just wanted everything to be normal again. I wasn't expecting something like that to happen to me." At that I laughed.

"And you think I did? I was even more afraid than you were. You didn't have to watch your friends go through hell then back again _and _go through it like I did. You didn't condemn the one you love to an eternal Hell. I did, and I'm sorry I had to take you with me. But you know you could have driven your parents mad if you had gone home. You are dead. You need to get over that and accept the fact that you are a vampire. You can't tell yourself you are a monster either because if you do you will end up believing it. You also almost killed Craig. He loves you so much Em and to have left like that would have just killed him. You could have killed more innocent people than you did. Just remember that the next time those thoughts of running away come back." I told her. She was shocked.

"I'm so sorry Nik and now look where it's got me. I have to get up to these red eyes for months and a guilty continence forever. Do you know what that feels like?" She asked me. I looked down. I _did_ know what that felt like.

"Yeah I do Emily. Do you remember what happened when you killed that woman? What was happening in your brain?" I asked, curious to see if it was the same with every vampire. She looked down, ashamed.

"I saw things. I don't know what it was but it was like I was remembering things. Like in those Bourne movies where he would get flashes of things he remembered. It was terrifying and I still don't understand why it happened." She told me. I didn't know whether it was better to tell her the truth, to relate or to let it go. I figured I would tell her my story; it would make the truth easier. So I told her.

"The memories of the people were flooding your head, every single event of their lives flashing through you like a slide-show on speed. And I'm telling you those memories don't fade like your human memories, they stay forever. Its truly unfair, even the best of vampires who slip just once and it is on them forever. It is probably the worst thing about being a vampire." I said remembering my first time. We sat in silence for a moment or so "But on a lighter note its time for some fire." I said then finished with a smile.


	20. Chapter 19 Seriously?

CHAPTER NINETEEN SERIOUSLY?

_"Tony bring everyone now, were done."_ I thought to him, hoping he would get it. In moments he and the others walked in. The others were amazed.

"This is fuckin' awesome!" Layla, Daemon and Craig said at the same time. I laughed. Just then there were voices passing in the hallway.

"They need some fire? Why don't they use the fireplace in the entertainment center? I don't get it." Paul said. I heard Melissa shrug.

"Teenagers. Who understands how there minds work." Melissa said. Then we all busted into laughter.

"I know this so awesome. Ok we need to get down to busyness. We don't want to let the band die right?" I asked. They all looked at me as if I was insane for asking. "That's what I thought, so we need a new name and we can't use any of our old songs until about a hundred years from now. So let's start wit a new name. Any ideas?" I asked. We all moved over to the couches on the left side of the room. Emily and Craig sat on the leather one, Layla and Daemon on the suede and Tony and I on the fuzzy one.

"The Eemo Emus?" Emily said. We laughed then I went to the desk, took out some paper and a pen and sat down while writing the name down.

"Monkey Garden!" Daemon said. I made a face then wrote it down.

"Seriously." Craig said.

"Seriously what?" I asked.

"No Seriously." Craig said.

"Seriously what?" I asked again.

"No like Seriously Seriously." He said.

"Seriously WHAT!?" I said a bit louder.

"Alright Abbot and Castello cool it. Nikki he means as a name, seriously our name as seriously." Daemon said. I mouthed an 'Oh' then wrote the name down.

"Oh I got one." Layla said. I began to write down what she said but she stopped me. "Jeez Nikki what's with you? That wasn't it but now you made me forget what I was gonna say." She whined.

"She's just all hyped up about what Tony is gonna do to her later, so just ignore her… excitement." Daemon laughed. I picked up a pillow from the couch then threw it at him hard. He caught it just before it hit his head, and I pouted over dramatically then crossed my arms.

"I got a good one," Tony said. We all looked at him, "Crash'n'Burn" He said. I laughed at how good the name was.

"I don't get it." Craig said. I laughed harder then realized he was serious, and then I sighed in exasperation. The name was so true but no human would get it. Apparently even a vampire didn't get it.

"We crashed the car, and then the venom burned us, well you anyway. Gedit?" I said slowly. He thought a moment then went 'Ohhh!'. We all laughed harder because now everyone got it. Everyone, except Layla was laughing. She was still touchy about the whole accident subject.

"Oh chillax Lai, all's well that ends well" I said. She smiled faintly then agreed.

"That's so our name." Craig said. There was a chorus of 'yeas' and 'totals' from everyone.

"Okay then it's settled, we are Crash'n'Burn." I said with a smile. "Let's not write today, I am a bit overwhelmed and I don't have anything good yet." I said. Everyone agreed. We sat in silence. Something that seemed more common for us since the change.

"Wow look at that view, its breath taking" Emily said staring out of window, finally appreciating the beauty of this place. Everyone nodded absent mindedly except Craig who was staring at Emily with so much love in his eyes it was sickening.

"Well if you don't mind us we have some catching up to do." Craig said, not removing his eyes from Emily, then scooped her up bridal style and ran out of the room.

"There not coming back are they." I stated to no one in particular. Everyone nodded.

"You know something? I think they got the right idea." Tony said then began kissing my neck. I didn't stop him this time and wasn't planning on doing so. I had missed him so much that when ever he touched me even in the slightest way shivers would run down my spine and I would get this fuzzy feeling that made nothing in the world matter but us. I moved his head so I could kiss his ear then stopped as his lips made there way back up to my face. He kissed my nose once then the corner of my lips twice, then finally placing his lips on mine and kissed me passionately. We remained in each others arms then broke apart, though not moving back more than a half an inch. "I love you" He told me, lips brushing against mine slightly.

"I love you too." I said then kissed him again. I placed my hands around his neck pulling him closer and holding him so tightly that had he wanted to move he couldn't have. He then placed his hands around my waist and pulled my body closer. We were now so close it was impossible to be any closer. It felt so right to be in his arms that I never wanted to break away ever again.

* * * * *


	21. Chapter 20 The Move

PART TWO

One year later

2008

CHAPTER TWENTY THE MOVE

"I can't believe we are moving, I love this place!" I said as I packed up my closet in record time. "This sucks. Paul and Melissa just had to get jobs and make us move. Ugh! I am not happy right now" I said loudly while pacing the room at 90 mph. "I didn't even know they were taking college classes and then they go and tell us that we are moving because they got jobs. They are vampires for gods sakes, they shouldn't be working with humans, and for that matter we are too we shouldn't have to go back to high school it was boring enough the first time." I ranted.

"I wonder if teachers in this decade are still as boring as Ms. What-a-snooze-Hughes." Tony laughed as he packed his closet. I laughed at the memory of my old social studies teacher from long ago. The memory was fading but it was still enough for me to remember how boring her lectures were.

"Probably." I said. "All the more reason to not go." I said. He smiled then went over to the desk, took the laptops off it, then placed them into my new Rise Against messenger bag. "I bet the people in this decade have never even heard of all the good stuff, like Rise Against and Three Days Grace and My Chemical Romance and all that." I continued ranting. Then the door of our room burst open.

"Will you please show some self control of your feelings you are driving me insane!" Craig yelled at me.

"Well sorry" I said sarcastically while walking over to him and slamming the door in his face. "And next time knock, you could have interrupted something important." I yelled through the door. Over the years we had begun to act more like brothers and sisters each day, this being an example of our brother and sisterly love.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to interrupt something 'important' that they were doing. Important my ass god what a bunch of…" He trailed off as he mumbled while walking down the hallway and back to his room.

"Nik, think of it this way, we are moving to Colorado, not the east coast so there is nothing to worry about." Tony said soothingly. I snorted.

"Nothing but trying not to massacre a city in under five minutes." I replied. He smirked.

"Come on I think you need a break from packing, its wearing you out." Tony said then took my hand and pulled me out the door.

"Where are we going? We can't leave yet we have to go pack the music room. Where are you dragging me?" I said. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, turned me to face him, and then kissed me roughly within the blink of an eye, shutting me up. After he let go he ran, pulling me along then hallway and out onto the bridge we had jumped off of before he went hunting the first time together. I shuddered remembering the experience, then squeezed Tony's hand tightly. We sat on the edge of the bridge remembering. I was sad to be leaving this place but also a bit relived. I would have never admitted the relief had someone asked me though.

"We really can't stay here we have to go pack the music room, that could take minutes and Melissa wants to leave by midnight." I said, getting up.

"Well what time is it?" He asked. I checked my watch.

"Eleven fifty five." I told him.

"That's plenty of time" He contradicted. I frowned at him then walked in the direction I thought the music room would be in, but apparently I was wrong. "Nikki honestly we have been living here for almost twenty years and you still have no idea where anything is." He sighed then picked me up, placed me on his back, then ran in the opposite direction that I had been going. Within seconds we were in the music room. The couches and table had been placed into the moving truck, driven by Paul, already so the only thing we had to do was pack the guitars and the CDs.

"Man, I wish we could take this stage with us it is awesome, as we never did get to use it." I said longingly. Tony nodded then went to the closet that had already been emptied and took out the cases for all the guitars hanging on the wall. Then he placed them all in the cases and piled them by the door. "We should take this stuff down." I told Tony. He nodded then I packed the CDs in boxes, which took the same amount of time, and placed the boxes by the door.

"I'll take the CDs down to the truck; you take the guitars and put them into your car." He said then left holding the five full boxes of CDs in his hands like they were as light as feathers. I went over to the guitars and too carried them like they weighed nothing. Moments later we met the others in the garage. I placed the guitars in my trunk then went over to where everyone else was.

"Did everyone double check there rooms?" Melissa asked. We all nodded. "Good now listen; we are going have the cars shipped there. They will be there before we are so there is no need to worry about them." She said. She sounded even edgier then usual. I tried to read her mind but there was nothing.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #32**

**I had learned that she could block me out of her thoughts if she wanted to, which was frustrating at times like this. There was something that she wasn't telling us, I could tell. So could Craig and Daemon, but everyone else said we were just worried about moving. And I had to admit I was a bit worried about going back to school but I knew something bad was going to happen soon, I could just feel it. **

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"Wait. If the cars are being shipped to America then how are we getting there?" Emily asked, afraid of the answer.

"We are… Taking a plane there." She said softly. Emily let out a small sob then went into Craig's arms. Tony let out a deep sigh, as did Daemon. The three of them were the ones with the least self control therefore the ones in fear of hurting someone the most. Then I hugged Tony from behind.

"Its okay I'll be right there we can get through this." I said soothingly. He nodded then waited for Melissa to tell us what to do next. She seemed a bit less anxious but still edgy.

"Well get in the cars and drive to the CIN airport, here are your tickets," She handed us each a ticket, "We will all be on the same plane and class but we will probably be separated until we are on the plane. I tried to keep us on a plane where there would be the least humans but it is impossible to tell where there will or will not be than many humans. Well see you all there." She said then she got into her SUV and drove off quickly.

"Call driving!" Tony yelled then slipped the keys out of my back pocket and ran to the car.

"No way it's my car I drive!" I yelled back at him then ran to the car. "Bye guys see you on the plane." I called behind me then ran up to Tony. "Give 'em." I said while holding one hand out for the keys and one hand on my hip. He smiled then shook his head no. I growled but he still didn't move. He just held the keys above my head and above jumping reach and smirked.

"How much do you want to drive?" He asked in a low seductive voice. I was hypnotized by his voice slightly then shook my head and came back to earth.

"Give." I said as firmly as I could, though still dazed by his voice. He laughed then took a step closer, now hovering over me and keys in his right hand and held off to the side and placed his left hand around my waist and pulled me to his. He leaned down, face centimeters away from mine and spoke.

"You were saying?" He said then breathed his cold, minty breath in my face. I stopped breathing then looked into his eyes. They were gray with a hint of green in them and they were smoldering.

"Cheater." I breathed, after attempting to pull away but was pulled right back again.

"No I am not. I just don't fight fair." He smiled then leaned down and kissed me. I deepened the kiss then pushed his back to the side of the car and kissed him harder. He placed the hand with the keys in it around my waist, pulling me as close to him as possible and slowly I removed one of my hands from his neck, ran it down the arm to the hand with the keys in it then quickly snatched them, broke away from Tony and jumped into the drivers seat of my car. It took Tony a minute to fully realize what had happened then he got into the car and stuck his tongue out at me then we drove to the airport.


	22. Chapter 21 Mix Up or Set Up?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE MIX UP OR SET UP?

It was a short car ride (to Tony's displeasure) to the airport. It was a small airport seeing as though there weren't many people traveling to or from Transylvania so it didn't have to be that big. We parked, got out of the car, took the items out of the trunk, then shoved my messenger bag over my shoulder, went into the building and up to the front desk. As I carried the carry on bag over my shoulder I was breathing lightly in fear of breathing in a sent that triggered my hunger. I hadn't hunted in weeks and was over due. Tony noticing my lack of breath then the lady behind the counter spoke.

"Hello my name is Brittany. How may I help you today?" she said overly friendly.

_"Oh My God that is the hottest guy I have ever seen! I bet he's even hotter without that shirt on eeekk! Wait until Jackie comes up here she is gonna be all OVER him!"_ Screamed a voice in my head. I growled mentally assuming it was the brunette helping us out because she was drooling over him, this was the last thing I needed at the moment. I heard Tony stifle a laugh then begin to talk.

"Yes we are booked for a flight to Aspen, Colorado at two am today. What gate might I find it at?" He asked politely. I snorted unnoticeably then continued to read the girls thoughts.

_"Oh he likes me he likes me! That must be his sister or something, they look to alike to not be related. Uh-oh, here comes Jackie"_ Brittany thought. I turned to see a skinny Latino girl in black Stiletto heels, a low cut pink shirt not covering well enough for the chilly weather that said 'You Look Better on Myspace'(whatever that is) and extremely short and tight plaid short shorts. I began to laugh quietly, but this time it didn't go unnoticed. The Jackie girl strutted up to us then slid past Tony, touching his waist with hers momentarily. I scowled at her as she moved behind the counter and leaned down on it next to Brittany and in front of Tony. She displayed her chest ridiculously making myself and Tony uncomfortable. I decided it was time to intervene.

"I think it's about time we get on the plane sweetie." I said. He nodded then handed the girls at the counter the tickets and placed the luggage in front of the desk. She took a quick look at the tickets then ripped part of it off and handed the other part back to us. Then Tony placed his hand into the back pocket of my new black jeans with chains and I did the same with his. Then he kissed my cheek lightly and walked over to the gate.

"Last call to Aspen" yelled the tall African American stewardess standing in front of the gate. He handed the stewardess the other part of the ticket then she lead us into the plane. It seemed to be that we were the last ones on the plane because it was packed. She lead us up to the front of the plane where the first class was then showed us our seats. They were two big, white leather seats that faced two other of the same seats with a little table in the center.

There was a man and a woman looking around the age of twenty seven holding hands and smiling pleasantly. We smiled politely back then took our seats. The **'****fasten your seatbelts****' **sign flashed on and there were sounds of clicking throughout the plane. I clicked my own in then the stewardess came over and checked that our seatbelts were on correctly, then vanished into the cockpit. It took the plane a few minutes to get off the ground but eventually it did and once we were steadied in the air the **'****fasten your seatbelts****'** sign flashed off.

There was a large amount of movement going on then. People were stretching, getting items in the storage area above them, people typing on there laptops, cell phones being used, people chatting amongst themselves and many other annoying sounds. Not to mention the faint but tempting sent of blood hiding in the back of my brain. I had to breathe slightly so that I didn't look suspicious but I did so lightly and carefully and only when there was no small breeze caused by a human moving too quickly or waving a body part around. I could tell Tony was feeling the same feeling only hiding it for my sake. Then I noticed something. Everyone on the plane was dressed… oddly for going to Colorado. The people on the plane were all wearing summer cloths. I began to panic.

"Were on the wrong plane." I said turning suddenly to Tony. He looked at me strangely.

"Why do you say that?" He said clueless.

"Oh gee I don't know. Maybe it's because of the way people are dressed!" I said quietly but voice dripping with venom. He looked around, eyes bulging as he continued from person to person.

"Uh-oh. Nikki what if the place is sunny when we get there?" Tony said. He had brought up a terrifying point.

"Let's find out the place first." I said, voice returning to a small worried voice. I looked over at the couple sitting across from us and sighed. "Excuse me, could you tell me where this plane is headed?" I asked. They smiled warmly.

"We are headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico." The woman said.

"Thank you." I said. I looked at Tony panicky.

_"San Juan, Puerto Rico!!" I yelled in my thoughts._

"_What are we going to do?"_ Tony thought to me.

"_I don't know, but we have to think of something."_ I thought back. Throughout the years we had perfected our powers and found out Tony could read minds too. Melissa still couldn't figure it out but it came to our advantage when we didn't want other people to hear what we were saying.

"Well I have two pairs of sunglasses in the carry on bag. Maybe there are some hoodies in there that we could wear until we catch a plane to Colorado." He suggested. In response I got up and stepped into the isle so I could get to the over head storage area. I quickly pulled out the bag, ignoring all the stares of envy from all the females on the plane and longing ones from all the males. I then opened it and sighed gratefully. There were two big black hoodies folded neatly in it along with my ipod and a note. I took out the note and my ipod and sat down on Tony's lap. Then I read the note silently.

"This is just in case it is sunny when we get to Colorado here is some sweatshirts and I thought you might forget your music thingy so I put it in here. Love, Melissa" The note said. I smiled then folded it and placed it into my pocket. Tony, who had been reading over my shoulder was now relaxed as he could ever be on a plane of humans, and listening to Saosin. I decided to call the others and tell them what happened. I pulled out my phone and hit Layla's speed dial. It rang once then was picked up by the frantic Layla.

"Oh my God where are you two the plane left without you are you okay did something happen?" Layla yelled out in one sentence.

"Calm down. We got on the wrong plane. We are on a plane to Puerto Rico. I don't know when we will be landing and no nothing happened I am not sure how we ended up on the wrong plane but we did. We figured out what to do when we get there so don't sweat it we will meet you in Aspen." I informed her. She sounded as if she was fighting with someone near her but it was hard to tell because the static picked up.

"I'm-chhhhh-putting-chhhhhh-Melissa o-chhhhhhhh-n." She said. Then Melissa's voice filled the phones speakers.

"Listen-chhhhhhhhh-carefully-chhhhh-someone-chhh-is after-chhh- us. Make-chh-no-chhh-contact. You will-chhhh-know who the-chhhh- person-chhh-is when-chhhh- you-chhhhh- see th-chhhhh-em. Be-chhhhhhh-careful. Chhhhhh" then the line went dead.

"Melissa? Melissa! Answer me!" I yelled into the phone attracting attention to myself. After a few more times of calling her name, though much softer I gave up and hung up.

"What was that all about?" Tony asked softly while taking out the ear buds. I sat there, soaking in what I had just heard. "Nikki? Nik? Natalia come back to Earth please." He said and shook me gently. I shook my head clearing my thoughts then looked at him.

"_She said someone is after us and that we were to make no contact with the person. She said we will know who it is when we see them and to be careful. Tony that must be why we are moving. Because someone is after us. But who? Why is someone after us?" _I rambled in my thoughts. Tony shrugged his shoulders then stiffened.

"They could be on this plane right now. They could be watching our every move. Maybe it was there fault we were put on this plane, maybe there intention to separate us from everyone else." Tony said.

"_Jeez you sound like a cheesy actor in a spy movie. Look I think we should only talk in thought now and that when we get to San Juan we either take a plane to Denver or we run, but whatever we do we do it the minute this plane lands."_ I thought to him. He nodded.

"_Okay but we still have an hour to go so lets just listen to music and relax while we can. In the meantime I am going to order us plane tickets off the net."_ He thought to me. He handed me the ipod then pulled out his cell phone and wallet. He logged onto the web then took out his credit card and ordered tickets for the soonest flight to Aspen from San Juan, then placed his credit card back and his phone in his pocket.

The three hours was short and before we knew it the **'****fasten your seatbelts****'** sign flashed on. I got out of Tony's lap and into my own seat. I buckled my seatbelt then waited. After the plane finally descended there was another mass of movement, along with a massive wave of blood smelling air people started exiting the plane. We got off as fast as we could then ran quickly, though not quick enough to draw attention to the baggage claim. After a few rounds of the same luggage we realized that our luggage must have gone with the right plane so we moved out of the way of others claiming bags and leaned on one of the walls a few feet away from it. I pulled out the two hoodies throwing one at Tony then putting my own on, making sure no skin was visible. I decided to call Melissa this time, to tell her we were alright. After a few rings she picked up.

"Where are you now?" she said frantically. I now finally understood why she had been acting so strange all this time. She knew there was someone after us all along and just didn't tell us.

"We are in San Juan. There is no sight of the person following us yet but it would help if you gave us some-"I stopped.

There was a man. Tall, poorly shaven, black hair, ghostly skin, staring at us. The most suspicious thing about him was the way dressed. He wore black tuxedo pants, a tight black T-shirt and a long black cloak, black expensive-looking Italian leather shoes, but that's not what made me to run. It was his eyes. His eyes were reddish black, they were vampire eyes.

"What? What is it? Did you find them?" Melissa said.

"We gotta run." I said then grabbed Tony's wrist and ran out the doors of the airport.


	23. Chapter 22 Warning

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO WARNING

The idea of danger finally sank in. Someone was after us. Someone we didn't know how lethal or how determined they were to do something to us. Someone who new something that we, at the moment, did not know. We ran a bit faster than the average fast human out into the parking lot and into the arising sun. Once Tony realized we were being chased he pulled out of my grasp and ran at the same speed as me. Once we were out of human eye we ran to our fullest capacity (Tony a bit faster than me) into town.

We had no idea where we were going so we ran and turned corners as much as possible and finally stopped when we were at a dead end. If I had been human I would have been afraid to be where Tony and I were standing. Though it was light out the alleyway were dim and the streets foggy. There were no people in sight, which was a good and bad thing and no windows or doors. There weren't even any animals scurrying around. Just pure deadly silence. The whole place had a eerie aura to it, it would have been very enjoyable if we weren't being chased. Then a voice came up from behind us. We turned around in unison but there wasn't anyone there. Then a being walked out of the wall, like it hadn't been there at all.

He was dressed like the first man but he wore black sunglasses and had his jet black hair gelled back. He stepped forward, only a few feet away from Tony and I, then smiled wickedly. His smile might have been the creepiest thing about him had he not smiled wider letting his vampire teeth retract. He just stood there, looking hungry and terrifying. Tony and I moved into a defensive position, staring into the black-red eyes of the man, waiting for him to make a move. He seemed to be relaxed, enjoying the tension between us. Then, un-expectantly he held out his hand. I looked at him suspiciously now, wondering what he was trying to do. Tony's arm twitched, moving ever so slightly to the mans but then went back to his side. Tony looked bewildered.

_"I didn't do that."_ He thought to me. I thought for a moment. There was something I had noticed about Tony over the years. If he had asked someone to do something they didn't want to do or motioned for someone to do something they didn't want to do he would get this look that made it impossible to refuse what he had asked or motioned. His voice would sound different too. It would have this hypnotizing lure to it, again making it practically impossible to refuse. This connecting made me think that the man could do the same thing, only his power was much more powerful.

_"I know. Whatever you do keep in control of your body, he is trying to control you."_ I thought back to him. He nodded, and then the man, as if hearing our conversation, dropped his hand and spoke.

"Good Evening" He said like he had just come out of a vampire movie "My name is Jack. I have come with a message from the boss. Are you Melissa Rivera?" The man asked, his voice changing to a thick Italian accent. I nodded no, and then was pulled forward a step by some unknown force. I tried to fight it before it pulled me closer but it pulled me a few most steps closer until I was only two feet away from him. The moment I felt his control leave me I pulled backwards and went back to Tony's side.

"You're a strong on, it's a shame really." He said then I was flung into the wall to my left with such force I went a good few feet into it. The moment his skin touched mine I felt like I was on fire again. Like the pain of transforming only stronger. I stopped breathing and closed my eyes, trying to make it pass faster. Then after a few agonizing seconds the pain faded and I opened my eyes. I tried to move my leg but when I did I felt a blistering ache in it. I waited a few more moments then tried again. A moan escaped my lips as I slowly removed myself from the wall, body part by body part. I stood limply waiting for another blow but it didn't come. Instead he spoke again.

"Sorry I had to do that but I need your cooperation and I figured I wouldn't get it if you were strong enough to damage me. I'm sure my thinkin's right aye honey?" He said his accent changing again. I growled in response making him laugh ruthlessly then knocking me back into the wall. This time I didn't dare move. I was really shaken but not as hurt as the first time. We needed a plan and I didn't have one. I looked at Tony hopefully but he just looked back with worry in his eyes. I slowly, slower than the first time, dropped to the ground face first. I never hit the ground though. Instead I hit Tony's outstretched arms which were harder than the ground, making my body ache slightly more. He then placed me upright gently keeping a hand on my lower back to hold me up.

"Now, let's chat. A good friend is looking for Melissa. Perhaps you know who that may be?" He said, confusing Tony and I.

"What-huff-are you-huff-huff- talking about?" I said slowly, unnecessary breathing interrupting my sentence. He smiled, flashing his venom coated teeth suggestively. I shuttered.

"I guess she hasn't told you yet. Well I am not going to be the one to deny Melissa the pleasure of telling the tale of her husband but I do ask you to pass on this message. Tell her we know where you live, know that wherever you are going we will find you, and when you see Melissa tell her Vincent doesn't approve of her new 'boyfriend' and will be watching. It would make it so much easier if she just turned herself in before we have to go and find you, but knowing Melissa that won't happen. And know that is someone gets in out way that there are no survivors. It was nice meeting you but now, I must leave-Agh!" He said then shouted. He fell to his knees writhing in pain. Cuts exploded into his skin and cloths but didn't bleed. There were just gashed in his skin like a million knives cut though his skin but got interrupted and pulled out before they went in too deep. He closed his eyes then stopped shouting. Then he was still.

"How did you use my own power against me!?" He shouted then went to punch me but I grabbed his fist inches away from my face. He looked surprised then was about to throw another when Tony pounces on him from the side and wrestled him to the ground. Within the blink of an eye Jack was on his stomach hands behind his back and in one of Tony's hands and legs in the other. I held my finger to his throat, inflamed it and I smiled. We had won the battle, but unfortunately the war had just begun.

_"What are we going to do with this guy? It would take too long to kill him and to really hurt him or at least keep him under control we need silver handcuffs or shackles or something like that and where the hell are we going to get that? So we need a plan. You got anything?" _He asked me mentally.

_"Um… Maybe. Maybe we should just let him go. He did what his job was and he doesn't want to kill us… well not yet or anymore anyway and we need to be on that plane to Denver or we are going to have to deal with more of these guards. I say we make a run for it. Just let him go and then we run back to the airport. They'll close the gangway in one minute so on three okay?"_ I thought to him. He nodded. _"One. Two. Three!" _I thought loudly then Tony let go of Jack's hands and feet and ran with me beside him towards the airport.


	24. Chapter 23 Hopefully Getting There

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE HOPEFULLY GETTING THERE

The run was short but apparently not short enough. We reached the gangway seconds after the plane was thundering down the lane. I sighed in defeat. We had to find a way to Colorado before creepy Jack found us again.

"Should we run there?" I said to him. He thought for a moment.

"You're the smart one you tell me." He said slightly frustrated. I thought momentarily.

"We need to call Melissa." I said gravely. He nodded slightly then we walked outside where the sun was up but we were thoroughly covered, sunglasses and all. I pulled out my cell phone and hit Melissa's speed dial. It rang for less than a minute then she picked up.

"What happened?" Was the first thing she said to me. I frowned. Not even a 'are you okay' just a 'what happened'. I was now discovering that I was mad and a ball of fire was balling up in my palm. I closed my hands making it un-noticeable then answered.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied indifferently. She sighed.

"Not now. We are being listened too. Where are you?" She asked.

"Same place we were an hour ago, just even more confused. Where are you?" I asked her.

"On our way home, Glenwood springs. Listen you are going to run, through the ocean to the nearest airport which from where you are is Santo Domingo, DR and from there you are going to take a plane to Aspen or Denver and you are going to call us and tell us what airport then we will meet you there. Be as fast as possible and make no contact with anyone. Claro?" She told me. I just stood staring out into space absorbing what she just told me.

"Claro y si pero what is going on?" I said when I could finally answer. She sighed heavily again.

"I will tell you when you get here." She said then hung up the phone. I sighed then had the sudden urge to throw the phone. Before I could Tony took the phone from the hand what wasn't clutching the fireball in my palm and placed his hand in mine while putting the phone in his pocket.

"Well you heard her. Time to run." I said then we began to walk down the road until no one was near us. Once the coast was clear we took off hand in hand and toward the beach. Once we reached the beach there was no one there so we ran on top of the water instead of swimming and getting out bag and cloths all wet. It took us about an hour and a half to cross the water and reach Santo Domingo. Once on the road and in seeing distance of the airport we walked at a fast pace to the front of the building and into the lobby.

We waited online impatiently for five minutes then bought the soonest plane tickets to Denver. Luckily the plane was just boarding so we ran at human speed to the gate handed the stewardess the tickets and got on the plane. I was much more aware of our surroundings this time. The people on the plane were dressed accordingly to be going to Colorado but I had to be sure. After we got into out seats we asked the couple in front of us where the plane was going and they told us Denver. Then and only then did we relax slightly. After the plane was in flight I got up and took the bag from the storage area above us. I quickly texted Zaria to tell her we took the plane to Denver because it was faster and that the plane would be in at three. Once the message was sent I took out the ipod then sat on Tony's lap and cuddled into him. He took the ipod from my hands and turned it on placing one ear bud in my ear and the other in his. After a long five hours the captains voice came over the intercom and told us to buckle our seatbelts because we were about to land. Now losing all feeling of serenity and peace I got off Tony's lap and went into my own seat and waited for the plane to land.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #33**

**Now you must be confused by now, so am I. What is going on? What did Jack mean by husband? Why is this happening to me? If you know please text me or something because I'm getting really pissed off. Just about as pissed off as when James put pink hair dye in my shampoo or when Tony failed that test, or when he shaved his head and painted it pink and ran around school in his boxers screaming "I lika do the cha-cha" just because Daemon and Craig dared him to. I didn't hear the end of that one from anyone. But back to the story.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**


	25. Chapter 24 Vincent Vitorio

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR VINCENT VITORIO

We exited the plane along with the crowd and looked for our family. Before I had a decent chance to look I was attacked with a hug from Layla from behind. I turned around and returned the hug then proceeded to hug Emily. Once we were done Daemon and Craig, who had been talking with Tony, hugged me tightly in a brotherly way. Melissa and Paul however kept there distance from all of us. Once everyone was reunited we walked over to Melissa and Paul. I was mad at Melissa, but would save my rage for a different place. She looked at me for a brief moment then turned and walked off towards the parking lot. We followed silently until we reached her black SUV. We then got in and were silent until we reached out new house.

I didn't take the time to notice its features and just followed Melissa into the house and into the first room on the left from the foyer which I think was the living room. It was dark, and painted a burnt orange, a subtle lime green and a nice charcoal black. The couch was black leather and there was a huge TV on the wall. Beside both sides of the TV was a rack of DVD's that had already been placed into the slots. There were stereos placed throughout the room as well as lights in the ceiling. The drapes on the windows in the front varied from green to orange and in the back there was a large window just like the castle. The view, also just like the castle, was gorgeous.

There was a forest, covered in snow and way in the background was a snow covered mountain. It almost made moving a bit better. Almost.

Melissa sat on the couch which smelt of new leather and everyone followed. I stared at her intently waiting. She seemed to be contemplating something.

"_What am I going to tell them? The truth is terrible…I… o shit. You heard all that didn't you." _Melissa thought. She had snapped her head up and stared at me. I nodded.

"The truth Melissa. I believe we deserve the truth." I said to her aloud. Everyone looked from Melissa to me. She sighed.

"_What if we just kept running? Maybe it will stop soon."_ She thought forgetting everything we had said and continued to think. Her thoughts echoed in my head_._

"_What does she mean?"_ I thought.

"_What does who mean?"_ Tony asked me with his thoughts.

"_Never mind"_ I thought back to him. "No Melissa, tell us what's going on. We can't keep running and we won't, especially when we don't know what were running from." He said. He had read my mind and figured out what was going on. He could only read my mind, no one else's. That was added to the list of things we still didn't understand, not even Melissa.

"Vincent Vitorio is a vampire. He is a vicious, malicious, murderous, killer of the innocent. He is what you would call the king of all vampires. If a vampire exposes themselves or even thinks about it he destroys them. If a human stumbles onto one of his many illegal operations he would torture them then kill them, and with pleasure." She paused. We urged her to continue but she just sat there. Minutes passed and I was about to read her thoughts but she finally continued. "He also kills for the sport. He is the oldest vampire in the world and the most manipulative. He is the essence of what we think of when we hear the word vampire. A true vampire he would call himself." She said. I sat and listened. The name Vitorio was also familiar but I couldn't think of it. And then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me.

"That was his castle wasn't it." I said amazed. "He owned that castle. That's why we had to leave, because he found out we were there. He is your-your-your- husband." I stuttered. She looked down at her feet ashamed.

"Yes he _was _my husband. And yes that is his castle and yes that is why we had to leave. Someone triggered a security system I hadn't found and disabled, at the front door. He used that to find me. I have been hiding from him for years and years on end and then when I finally found this place I figured he wouldn't suspect I was right under his nose. I stayed there for years and was never bothered. Years and he didn't even cross my mind. I had truly believed he had given up on me, but I was wrong. Now, more than ever, he is going to want to find me. To find me and make me Queen again and nothing will stop him." She said. I frowned. Melissa was a coward. She didn't want to face him.

"Why are you hiding from him? Why does he want you back? What happened?" Tony asked. She sobbed slightly.

"Well, believe it or not, I used to be in love with him and him with me but, I ruined him. I, being the queen, had a reputation for being married to a "real vampire" We were "Real vampires." and we took the meaning of the word to its fullest. We ruled the underworld and nothing stood in our way. And then there was a human. He was small, puny, and all over pathetic but he said something, something that to this day I can't remember, that changed everything. From that day on I vowed to be a vegetarian and to never slip. Vincent, not liking my new diet, tried to convince me otherwise for a little while and when he saw it just wasn't working he had me locked up and told anyone who asked about me that I was sick. For a year he locked me up and fed me only humans, which I had to eat. Once he decided I was finally 'normal' again he put me back on the thrown with him. I remained at his side for months and watched as innocent people were killed and he just sat there and laughed. I however did not find it amusing. One day I got so sick of it I stormed off in the middle of one of his torture sessions. I went into the vault that was in the castle and took a book out. It was the book of Aramond, the book of the living dead and used old magi to place a curse on all the vampires who drank human blood. The curses made all those who drank humans have to live a life of eternal hell and were cursed with powers. Mine was a lucky one. Some were horribly vicious. The curse wasn't much of a curse for most people really. One of the servants on the castle had a power that if he stared at someone for more than a second their whole body would shut down, organs and all and then some were cursed with random explosions of cuts or flames all over. The worst for all humanity and by far the most powerful was Vincent's. He had them all. Every power there was at the palm of his hands. And with all that power he went insane. He lost all sense of humanity and compassion, including his love for me." She said. I was stunned. Before I had a chance to recover she continued.

"I told him I was going to leave, which was a mistake. He reminded me of the day I was changed. He changed me on sacred grounds. I was bound to him for eternity and still am." She said now sobbing. Paul hugged her to comfort her and shared the same look of sorrow as everyone else did. Everyone except Layla and me.

**_____________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #34**

**Layla and I were the least compassionate of all of us. I was highly insensitive, to a point where it would be considered cruel. Layla lacked compassion for a lot of this because of her mother's tragic death. Her mother was shot eleven times and stabbed 16 by her father and her father's girlfriend. They were sentenced to life for first degree murder and possession of narcotics but killed themselves before the case was taken to court. My reason was because my dad didn't give a shit about me, my grandfathwe who I loved dearly died of pneumonia and of coarse my brother's death had a great affect on me as well. I think I also was born without the natural capacity to symphathyze. Come to think of it, that was probably Vincents fault.**

**____________________________________________________**

"This is ridiculous. An insane vampire ruler is trying to kill us. Why is it no body ever tells anybody anything around here unless their about to die! I am so sick of that! Can this get any more frustrating?" I yelled to no one in particular.

"This is critical. He is trying to kill us just to get to you. We would have fought already. We are strong Melissa, you know that. Is something else, something important?" Layla said hotly.

"There is nothing more. I have to keep running and now that you all have been seen with me you must too. I am sorry but this must happen." Melissa said still sobbing. I had had it.

"Are you serious!?" I shrieked. Melissa nodded slightly. I had finally blown it. I sped out of the room, leaving a trail of fire behind me. I needed to calm down. I needed to go somewhere cold. Somewhere to calm my thoughts.

I ran out of the house and into the backyard where the forest was. I feed on two deer then ran into the distance, fire slowly dying down. Once I reached the mountain I was covered in soot but back to my normal non-flaming self. I lay in the snow until my thoughts cleared, which must have taken hours if not days, and then I heard a voice.

"She's gorgeous." It said. There was a baby, big bright blue-green eyes, soft dirty blonde hair, tiny yet strong features, quietly laying in its sleeping mothers arms. "She is destined to do great things." The Velvety, hypnotic voice said with his mild Italian accent.

"When?" Another voice asked.

"Eighteen. She must be eightteen. No earlier. She will be damned soon enough, let her have her fun while it lasts." The first voice said. Then the voiced stopped and a new set of voiced started

"You imbecile, it'll be your head for this you count on it. Vincent does not tolerate mistakes especially ones as large as this. You better-" The voice was cut off by another familiar one.

"I do not tolerate mistakes, this is true, but what, I may ask, has happened to make say you such a thing?" the man with the thick Italian accent, Vincent, said. The other men did not reply and he became angry, his finger tip flaming slightly. "The consequences of your actions will be dire if not death if you do not answer me this instant." He said in a soft, yet horrifyingly deadly voice.

"Forgive me sire. A horrible mistake was made. The girl, she, she was bitten earlier this morning by one of our men. He would have killed her had another vampire not removed him from her." The other man said shakily. Vincent's voice was strangely calm, an eerie calm.

"Was this other vampire one of ours?" He asked softly. The other man nodded. "Was it a woman?" He asked.

"I am unsure sire but I will be looking into that." He said softly then trotted away, at human speed. Then the voices changed again.

"The girl is a vampire. Who changed her and where. I need information immediately. Who was the vampire who removed our changer from the girl?" Vincent said. This time it was an image. It was a large room with a table stretching from wall to wall, seats decorated like a throne and table with details dating back to the 1300's. Vincent was striding slowly across the room and then back again. The people, or for lack of a better word beings, staring intently at him, eyes never leaving him for a moment, awaiting his next direction or movement. Then a small wrinkled old man stood and spoke.

"Jack Mahoney, sir. Changed the girl exactly one week ago to this day in a dark alley. The vampire who saved her from death is… someone who you might want to take care of personally." The old man said. Vincent stopped in his tracks. He about faced to look at the old man; with his striking features and cold reddish-black eyes and stared intently. The old man nodded as if answering an unsaid question.

"Then why isn't anyone following them! I want them to be watched. Especially her. Where is she? Where is the moron who didn't tell me this sooner so that I can kill him and where is my wife!" Vincent boomed though out the room. Suddenly people were scurrying and working and the whole room was at chaos. Chaos at which Vincent did not tolerate.

"SIT!" He yelled. Faster than he could have said it again everyone was seated and the chaos was controlled. "Find her and bring her to me. Bring the girl too, she is the key to everything and do it quickly. In fact bring them all!" He said in his regular deadly hypnotic tone. At his final statement everyone exited the room and all was quiet again. The vision or memory ended and I was once again aware of the mountain scenery around me.

Before I could find myself thinking about what I had just seen and heard I was running back towards the house. I ran in though the front door where everyone was generally in the same positions as they were when I left.

"You knew." I said directing my statement at Melissa. "You knew he was after me and you ran. You let me change into a monster in that room, in that castle, right where he would find me and once I was done you explained the whole vampire thing then ran away from him as you had been doing for years and still are. He wanted me from birth. I was marked for death and you didn't do anything to stop it. And Jack Mahoney. It's his fault they are vampires. He knew we would be at that audition and he knew where to find me because he had been tracking me even since I was born, which means Vincent has been tracking me since birth too." I said in a rage. The something came to me.

"But it didn't go according to Vincent's plan now did it? He thought he would have me from the beginning and that I would take over as queen someday. You ruined his plan. Twice. But that curse that you placed on all those vampires still lives today. And it wasn't much of a curse. He is unstoppable." I said quickly. Surprisingly my power was controlled and I had no burning sensation anywhere. Melissa looked at me, eyes ranging from confused to scared.

"What?" Tony said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"I was marked for this. They expect all this to happen. Everything, or at least most of it. They planned to have Melissa and me forever. And still do. We are marked. But what I don't understand is the relation between us. You two were human before and were changed at different times so unless you aren't telling me something again this doesn't make sense." I said then something connected in my brain "You married him while he was a vampire but didn't know. He tricked you onto sacred grounds and changed you didn't he?" I asked. She nodded solemnly, "But who changed him? Melissa a little help!" I said suddenly exhausted.

"I don't know." She said after a few minutes of silence. "But maybe…, but then again maybe not. Or maybe…" She trailed off them picked back up again "Maybe the answer lies…" Melissa said looking as thought she was having an epiphany. She ran out of the room faster than I would have thought even a vampire possible. I was about to get up and follow her but she came back. "Come with me. Everyone. We have some unpacking to do, and quick." She said in Spanish then ran out of the room. I translated then we followed.

We followed behind her quickly, hoping she could answer the problem ahead of us. We ended up down the three mile driveway where the moving van was parked. She opened the back and began throwing boxes out of the van. We all caught them as she tossed them and ran them up to the house, only to return and do the same. After almost the whole van was empty Melissa stopped. With a rapid movement she picked up the box lying in front of her and ran back into the house. We all shrugged then followed. After we found her again, which was a matter of seconds we sat down on the floor next to her. We were on the third level of the five level house where the library was.

It was large and had an old fashioned style to it with new age furniture. She had opened the box and began spreading books all over the floor. The books were not average books, they were… old. There were large hard cover leather ones and there were flimsy dusty ones. There were some in Spanish, others Latin, Greek, lots in Italian and some in languages I couldn't even begin to make out. There was one book however that caught my eye. It was in Latin. From what I could make out it said The Living and the Breathing's Guide to the Life of the Undead by…No I couldn't have read that right. Dracula? He's just a superstition. Isn't he?

"_At this rate ill believe anything." _Tony thought to me. I nodded but still couldn't speak. Melissa had opened different many books in different languages to different pages and pictures. It was almost enough to make you dizzy. Her eyes were speeding across the page rapidly, going from page to page and book to book, speaking softly switching from language to language; looking for something I hoped was going to help us. Days passed or so it felt like it and Melissa hadn't moved. Everyone else got bored and anxious so decided to unpack the essentials. We unpacked the library which felt like it took days alone because there were so many books.

Every once in a while we were unpacking Melissa would mumble or grunt indicating for us to give her the book we were putting away or that she had found something interesting. Over the quickly growing days I grew bored and eventually decided to look for something that might help. I picked up The Living and the Breathing's Guide to the Life of the Undead and began to read it and took it to mine and Tony's plain room on the third floor.

I plopped down on the windowseat and read. It was generally a biography of Dracula's life and habits but also had facts about the life of regular vampires. I on the other hand was not a regular vampire and grew bored after a few of the complicatedly worded small printed chapters. Then I reached a chapter that intrigued my curiosity. It read:

_As a child I dreamt about vampires frequently. When I told my parents of the dreams they would look at me in disgust. At the age of twenty I found myself unmarried, uneducated, and living in my parents basement only to come out on those nights. One night I came across something, more like someone oddly familiar. In my dreams was a man, six feet four, two-hundred lbs. , jet black hair, long black over coat and blackish red eyes. His name was Vincent I believe, and he was the town 'vampire'. He only came out at night therefore earning his strangely accurate nickname. And there before me he was taking a night stroll. He had been out longer than usual that night and then I knew my longly awaited fate was about to some true._

_After he was a good hundred feet away I whispered "I know what you are, I'll tell everyone. Unless you do one simple thing for me." With that he then turned around ran toward me at his inhuman speed and stood inches away from my face. "What do you want kid?" He whispered roughly at me. I smiled devilishly. "Bite me." I had said. He had smiled then sunk his retracted venom coated teeth into my neck. I smiled then it was all dark. Sadly to this day I can not remember what had happened directly after that. I learned that now I had a problem as a human man that had caused me to go insane and obsessive about vampires. Now I live the life I had always dreamed of, the life I always wanted it to be. I never regretted my decision._

_And to this day I do not regret it. After that fateful night I realized I was reported missing and was to leave the town at once. I searched for the vampire called Vincent for months to never find him. Eventually I had to move on so I ran to a town I can not remember the name of in Quebec where I lived for centuries moving generally from place to place every decade. Slowly I learned and recorded the abnormal differences of vampire and human such as diet, speed, strength, need of breath, and many others of which if you are reading this book you already know._

_  
As I aged I learned. Around the 1800's all the creatures of the world relocated to the underworld where we wouldn't be bothered. The vampires lived under Antarctica and Canada where the other creatures spread through out the rest of the underworld. It was much more comfortable than the upperworld, much more space you know? Point being if somehow this book ends up in the upperworld and you are a vampire reading it come down to the underworld, we have cookies! _

I then began to wonder. Could it have been the same Vincent trying to kill me right now? It was possible wasn't it? He was the oldest vampire in the world and underworld though. I was about to continue but was interrupted by a rather, distracting, image.

Tony had walked in the room after his shower with only a towel on and he looked amazing. His abs were perfectly sculpted into a modest six pack and his arms and legs had just enough muscle to tell he was extremely strong, but not enough to say "meathead". He shined slightly after taking his shower and his hair was all messy but sexy from being towel dried. He looked over at me then smiled and I smiled back embarrassed for ogling at him. Neither one of us knew what to say, so we said nothing. He walked into the closet and got dressed in a black and green Three Days Grace shirt I bought for him, baggy black jeans, green converse and a silver belt with a DC logo on it. He also was wearing his usual bracelets and wristband but he wasn't wearing his cross around his neck like he used to when he was human. I didn't blame him; I stopped believing in anything after the transformation too. He still looked unbelievably hot, even with his clothes on.

"Hey, can I cut your hair?" I asked him. He looked at me, his face dropping into a worried expression. "Can I?" I asked him with puppy-dog eyes.

"Will it grow back?" He asked me. I smiled.

"Yes it will grow back." I told him.

**_____________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #35  
It would grow back. Even though the venom spread through his body and stopped all his organs, the one that makes his hair grow, which I really don't know the name of because I skipped health class all the time, still works. I was happy about that because I could cut my hair really short and it would grow back the next day.**

**___________________________________________________**

I took a pair of scissors out of the desk that was next to the closet. "I can believe how stupidly arranged this room is. Why is the desk all the way over here" I muttered to myself, he laughed then rolled his eyes. I took the leather desk chair and placed it in front of the mirror in the bathroom.

"Sit." I said to him. He began to mosey over to me but I grew impatient so I ran behind him and pushed him into the chair. I turned the chair around so he couldn't see what I was doing then quickly cut his hair to look like Dylan Bruno's in my old favorite TV show NUMB3RS. I then stood back to admire my work then smiled. "Exactly how I wanted it, no, I got an idea" I ran into our closet, got the dye and ran back into the bathroom. "Im just gonna dye it a little lighter." Before he could object I put on some rubber gloves I found in the bathroom sink's drawer then ran the dye through his hair. I, being my impatient self didn't want to wait for the dye to work and then wash it out so I bought a new brand where you put it in for a few seconds then you wash it right out. So I did, and again I smiled because it looked exactly like I wanted it to look like. Finally I was finished and I spun him around so he could see it. He smiled.

"Matt Damon meets Dylan Bruno?" He asked. I smiled.

"You look even better than both of them and, that is seriously saying something." I told him. He smiled then pulled me down on top of him.

"Do I get a reward for putting up with your silly antics?" He asked. I smiled then moved my head down so he could kiss me. We started out slow then our kiss became more urgent and intimate. As he began to slide my shirt off I felt a wave of panic wash over me.

"Tony we have to stop." I told him. He grunted then removed his hand from my almost removed shirt, obviously aggravated. "You know I love you right?" I told him as I got off him.

"Yeah, whatever." He said as he walked out of the room.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"I don't fucking get it!" Tony huffed as he stormed into Daemons room. "I don't fucking get it at all!" he yelled. He then paused for a moment. "Where's Layla?" he barked.

"She's in the bathroom doing her hair. Why?" Daemon replied, slightly taken aback. Tony walked into the bathroom, grabbed Layla by the shirt, dragged her out of the room and shut the door.

"Well excuse me!" Layla yelled from the hallway, then stalked off towards Tony and I's room.

"Clam down To, what don't you get?" Daemon asked calmly. He had correctly assumed it had to do with Tony and me's relationship. We used to fight constantly but as we got older it turned into a more silent argument until one party apologized to the other because they forgot what the fight was about.

"Every freaking time we get a bit little closer but she pulls away. Every freaking time! I'm sick of it! She says she loves me, and I tell her every chance I get how much I love her yet she still doesn't want to go any further than we have! I don't get it!" Tony spilled out then crashed on Layla and Daemon's completely unmade bed.

"We'll maybe she's not ready…" Daemon stated simply. Tony thought for a second then shook his head.

"How couldn't she be? We've been dating for almost 5 years, seriously man, how much longer could she possibly need?" Tony asked.

"I don't know man, women are a mystery. Have you talked to her about it?" He asked.

"What am I supposed to say to her Dame, 'Hey, how come we haven't had sex yet?' what kind of a dick would say that?" Tony replied exasperatedly. Daemon looked like he was going to say something then stopped. Then, reaching a moot point, they sat and stared at each other in silence.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Your boyfriend is SO rude! He just freaking came into my room and dragged me out like a freaking dog! What the fuck is wrong with him?!" She asked aloud beginning to pace. Layla then stopped when she saw me sitting cross legged on the bed staring out the window in a slight daze. "Did you two have a fight?" she asked softly. She sat down on the bed next to me and I leaned on her shoulder.

"Tony and I have never had sex." I blurted out quietly. There was a look of shock on Layla's face but it passed quickly.

"He's not gay is he?" Layla said in slight horror. This made me laugh out loud in spite.

"No. He's not. Far from it actually. It's me. Every time we get close I freak out and either walk away and do something else or just tell him we can't. I guess he got sick of it this time. Oh, fuck and he's probably telling Daemon, great, now I'm _never_ gonna hear the end of this." I said then plopped backward on the bed.

"Why though? Why do you keep stopping?" Layla asked. I wish I had a simple answer for such a simple question. Why do I keep stopping? I love him right? I always tell him that.

"I don't know." I replied honestly.

"Well that's something you should figure out hon," she replied "cuz I'm telling you now, he isn't gonna sit around and wait for you forever." She finished then kissed my head and walked out of the room.

I sat and thought for what felt like hours. I knew I loved him. Why was I having such a problem with this? And then it hit me. I knew _exactly_ why I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was scared. I was scared he wouldn't love me afterwards. Scared something would happen to us and we'd never be able to go back to what we were. Is that an irrational fear? Will he still be there? There's only one way to find out.

******

"I think you should go talk to her." Daemon said with a crooked smile. Tony looked up from staring at his lap puzzled as if asking why. "Just do it." He said. Tony nodded solemnly then walked out of the room as Layla walked back in giving Tony a death glare.

___________________________________________________

Because Daemon's ability was to feel and manipulate people's emotions he knew how I was feeling and how I was going to react, making his advice to Tony reasonable.

___________________________________________________

"So whad you tell him?" Layla asked and sat down next to him, grabbing his arm for her to lean on.

"Just to talk to her. You?" He replied.

"More along the lines of think about it and realize your being an idiot." She told him. He smiled.

"I'm sure as hell glad we didn't have that problem." He said smiling.

"Yeah, me too." She smiled back.

******

"Hi." Tony said awkwardly as he walked into the room and shut the door.

"Hi." I said just as awkwardly back. There was an uncomfortable silence between us. He came down and sat in front of me cross-legged. Taking my hands lovingly he began to speak.

"So um, about what happened earlier, I'm sorry I walked off on you like that… I was just… frustrated."

"Don't be," I replied "It's all my fault, as usual. I just… don't know. I panicked I guess." I rambled.

"Look Nik, as you know I'm not good with words," I laughed, remembering when he first asked me out. He could barely get the word 'Will' out of his mouth so I just told him yes. He was so happy that day he hugged me. It was quite the skeptical. "But I feel like you need to know this so I'm gonna try." He said as if the words for physically paining him. "I love you, more than you could ever know and more than I could ever begin to tell you. And I want you to know that I'll wait for you. Forever if I have to. I realized that forcing you to do something you aren't ready to do is not going to do our relationship any good and I don't ever want to jeopardize that. Ever." He struggled. I smiled, realizing how much he truly loved me.

"I love you too Tony, and I mean that." I said. I leaned forward and kissed him. At first there was no response so I stopped, then realized that he was not responding because he thought I was forcing myself to do this. I then pushed him back on the bed and straddled him. I kissed up and down his neck and nibbled his ear but there was still no response. Growing impatient I un-buckled and slid off his belt and began to undo his jeans when he grabbed my hands and pulled them to his sides.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked his voice slightly more gravely than usual. I freed myself from his grip and finished un-zippering his zipper. He took that as a yes then smiled widely.

Faster than the eye can see, at least the human eye anyway, he flipped us over, pulled off my shirt and I his jeans. I was silently thanking god, or whoever it was out there, that I was wearing the matching black and pink frilly underwear set Layla had made me buy from Victoria's Secret. It took him a bit longer to take off my jeans because they were so tight but he managed to do so quickly. I undid the buttons of his shirt as rapidly as possible then marveled as his perfect abs. I stroked them with my hands then made my way up to his chest and slid one arm behind his neck to pull him closer to me. He, somewhat roughly but not painfully, pulled my hair out of its usual ponytail and tangled his fingers through it. Our tongues danced as we let our hands roam each other's bodies. Then, very skillfully I might add, he took my bra off with his teeth and I laughed at how much he resembled an animal. I then, very smoothly slid off the boxers I had bought for him and threw them god knows where. It seemed as though time was non-existent. No one and nothing mattered but us at that moment in time. We were finally one and nothing could ever change that.

At about ten pm I awoke from a sleepy state to find Tony's gorgeous green/blue eyes staring into mine. I smiled and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

"Hi." I said simply.

"Hi." He said. I admired how sexy his voice was. It was so deep and gruff but not too gruff. It made me smile even wider.

"I love you." I told him while moving from lying on my side facing him to lying on my back.

"I love you too." He stated back. We sat in a comfortable silence while I traced the lines of his tattoo, admiring its quality. "Hey, I didn't know you had another tattoo." He said. I turned to him.

"I don't have another tattoo…" I replied to him perplexed.

"Yeah you do. I noticed it last night, you must have gotten it when you were drunk or something, and it's seriously sexy." He said. I thought back really hard to the last time I was drunk. It was at a party, weeks before I was turned and I was pretty sure I didn't get it then. There was no way I got it afterwards though because I would have remembered.

"Where is it?" I asked him. I felt stupid asking but I honestly couldn't think of when I could have gotten it. He pulled the sheets down and there on my right hip was a black tattoo of a lion with a snake in its mouth. "I've never seen that before." I said dumbfounded. He laughed.

"Well either way, it's awesome. Fitting cuz it's on you." He said. I rolled my eyes exasperated.

"You are so corny, its actually painful sometimes." I told him. He pouted jokingly.

"Now you're gonna pay for that" he said wickedly and began to tickle my mercilessly.

"Tony! Stop!" I laughed hysterically. "Tony!" I exclaimed. He finally ceased to tickle me. We ended up in one of the same positions we were in last night, him lying on top of me. He closed the gap between our lips and kissed me harder and yet softer than he had ever before. We were enjoying having no boundaries once again when the alarm went off. Tony growled at it (it was kinda sexy) then slammed it with so much force it should of smashed into little pieces, but only went into snooze mode. After five minutes more of intense kissing it went off again. This time Tony slammed the alarm clock onto the floor but once again it only went into snooze mode.

"This thing hates me." Tony said.

"Maybe that's because you curse at it. If you were nice to it, it wouldn't hate you." I replied back simply. He in turn rolled his eyes. I pushed his lips back onto mine so I could enjoy the last few minutes we had free without interruptions before we had to get ready to meet the others to go snowboarding. The alarm rang one final time before I got up, shut it off, and placed it back on the night stand. As I did so I felt him sizing me up again.

"You're such a pig." I exclaimed jokingly. He smiled then laughed and chased me into the shower. After we were clean we walked into our closets (the only thing we unpacked) and picked out our outfits for the day. I knew for a fact that Tony loved it when I wore blue so I decided on wearing a pair of ridiculously tight black skinny jeans, black and blue checkered suspenders, a tight, modestly cut blue and black zebra print shirt, and blue and black checkered vans. I even managed to find a blue bra and pair of black underwear that looked decent together. I was about to walk out of my closet but I was slammed against the wall and had my hands held over my head in a rock solid grip.

"Tony, I just got dressed." I half whined half wanted him to continue. He smiled, reading my thoughts then roughly took off all my clothing.

"Were definitely going to be late to meet them now." He said as he straightened his cloths and walked out of the closet. He was wearing my absolute favorite outfit, a black underarmor muscle shirt that showed off his gorgeous muscles, a loose pair of blue jeans with his chained wallet hanging out of his right pocket, and a pair of black and white DC's.

"Tony!" I yelled at him.

"What?" He yelled back, knowing exactly what I was going to say.

"Give me my shirt back!" I said as authoritatively as I could as I walked out of the closet half naked. He stood and admired for a minute then I grew impatient, grabbed my shirt from his hand and threw it on. "Let's go!" I said excitedly and dragged him off in the opposite direction of where we were meeting the others

.

"Nik." Tony said. I stopped pulling him and faced him, "You're goin' the wrong way… as usual." He laughed. I pouted then jumped on his back.

"Fine then, you lead the way… as usual" I said mocking him as we ran off to meet the others. This house wasn't like the castle so everyone could hear what everyone else was doing so everyone, with the exception of Melissa and Paul who, thank god, happened to be working last night, knew what happened last night.

As we approached the group they all busted into hysterical laughter. Tony and I grinned sheepishly then stared at the ceiling and floor.

"It's about time, we thought we were gonna have to send someone up there but then we decided no one wanted their limbs ripped part so we'd just wait." Emily said. I laughed at how true that was. If anyone had interrupted us I would have been extremely embarrassed and somewhat furious.

"Seriously I mean how man times can two people-"Craig said but was cut off by a sharp elbow to the gut by Emily. I mouthed a thank you to her then she, Layla and I hopped into my already packed car while Craig, Tony, and Daemon hopped into Daemon's.

Once all the car doors shut and we were going a decently slow pace of 75mph on the highway, the comments came. "Oh, My God! I can't believe you finally did it!" They said at the same time. I rolled my eyes but secretly smiled.

"Finally! Jesus it took you guys long enough! Dame and I were waiting in the other room just listening for you guys to get started, I swear to god I thought we were gonna be there all night!" Layla exclaimed.

"Same with Craig and me! We were waiting to hear _something _and then _finally _it happened. Wasn't it amazing?" Emily said. I waited a minute for their anticipation to grow then I replied.

"Yeah, it was." I smiled sheepishly as they screamed in joy. We continued to talk about the gritty details until we reached the lodge.

* * *

"Don't be such a chicken Emily we can't die anymore so you won't break something if you hit something."I said. She nodded nervously then jumped off and began to speed down the deserted mountain. Emily took the bunny slope because she had never gone snowboarding before, unlike Layla, Daemon, Craig, Tony and I.

"Why is there no one here?" Layla asked stupidly. Sometimes she was so slow.

"One because its," I looked at my sweatband watch, "Two am on a Wednesday," I said "and two because this is a banned area, too many trees." Tony said then grinned. He loved breaking the rules. We grew higher and higher and I suddenly remembered my fear of heights. It was a weird thing to be afraid of seeing as though no matter how high the fall I couldn't die from it.

"LOL, Nik I can't believe you are still afraid of heights." Daemon said. I made a face at him then looked down. I gulped. We had to be more than 600ft in the air. Tony's arm tightened around me.

"I won't let you fall, well not too hard anyway" Tony said to me. I smiled then elbowed him in the gut.

"On three. One, Two, Three!" Layla said. She placed her goggles on and jumped down with Daemon. Then Craig jumped down and was out of sight within seconds. I looked at Tony and him at me and we jumped, it seemed like forever before landing directly on the soft snow. I let go of Tony's hand. We boarded on down the hill quickly enjoying the cool air and the adrenaline rush. There was an upcoming ramp that everyone was avoiding but I had no intention in doing so. Tony looked behind him, noticing I was not following.

"Nikki no!" he yelled at me, but it was too late. I bent my knees far down, lowering my body and holding my arms out low to gain speed and breathed. After a few anticipating moments I reached the ramp and flew off it. I felt the air, sweet and fresh against my already cold face. I bent my knees further then twisted my body doing a 360 while placing my right hand on the side of the board then tried something I had never tired to do in my past snowboarding experience. I leaned forward quickly, tucking my body in further and pushed until I felt myself go upright again. I began rapidly approaching the ground so I stayed put and focused on my landing. I landed with a perfect yet uncharacteristically graceful thump and flew down the mountain. I flew past Tony, Daemon, Layla, and even Craig who was at least 500ft. in front of the others and reached the bottom at record speed. I then stood impatiently for the others, hands on my hips.

"What took you your so long? I've been waiting here for like ever!" I said in my best valley girl voice. Layla, Daemon, and Craig laughed. Tony however looked furious.

"Don't do that ever again you gave me a heart attack." He said. I laughed. Stupid overprotective, Tony.

"Whatever." I said.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #36  
That was my response to him whenever he told me not to do something because it's dangerous. I remember that one time when we were snow tubing and I was going just a bit too fast for his comfort and he made me slowdown by cutting in front of me. It was extremely annoying.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

He was about to reply but his cell phone rang. He made a few grunts and OK's and then hung up. We all looked at him curiously.

"Melissa found something" He said monotonously. Before he could say another word I ran to the car, the others following behind. I jumped into the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition.


	26. Chapter 25 Intruders

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE INTRUDERS

We sat impatiently in the study, waiting for Melissa to say something. It was as silent as the grave. No one dared to move, just in case she would start talking. I was expecting the worst, but sadly I felt like even my worst guess could be far off from the truth. I finally began to tap my fingers on the table impatiently but was stopped by Tony placing his hand on mine. It must have been hours before she finally said something.

"This is bad." She said softly. I felt like a bomb had just been dropped on me. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could put this in better terms but its juts not possible." She said gravely.

"He is your Uncle." She said. I didn't get it.

"Yeah I know. He is married to you, making him my Uncle." I said impatiently, clearly not getting what she meant.

"No, I mean by blood. He is _really_ your uncle; I'm only your aunt by marriage." I was shocked. I didn't have a reply. She waited to see if I was going to change my expression or lash out at her, but when I didn't she continued.

"I know I sould have realized it before but it's been so long and I just couldn't remember." She said to me. Again she waited for me to react in the way the news deserved but I surprised her and kelp calm. "There is part of him in you. A part I am not sure of how much power it has over you. It could be something as simple as you have his nose or mouth shape but there is a possibility that it is more." She said. _Hopefully not the insane power hungry part_. She said in her head, not realizing that I could still hear her. When she realized that I had heard what she said she gave me a look of apology. I nodded it was ok even though it really wasn't .

"As for your strange powers, I don't know where you got the mind reading power from but the temperamental flames were a power of Vincent's, one he always struggled with. You need to learn to control it; it is very very dangerous if used by accident." She said her voice lowering with each word. Duh, I already knew that, coulda used that warning six burns ago.

"Point being though that, vampire is in your blood, well was in your blood when you were human that is. Maybe you would have turned a vampire at eighteen weather a vampire had bitten you or not and then again maybe not. You were destined to be a vampire." She said. We let that sink in.

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Vampire Note #36**

**So it's a total possibility that I am an evil vampire that is destined to take over the world and I could change it for the better or spiral it into a hell-hole… wait the humans did that to them selves. This isn't fair. I hate to sound overdramatic but… why me?**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

"Now what?" Layla said quietly, breaking my consecration.

"Sadly, there is more." She said. I tuned in again, as did everyone else. She waited; I don't know what for but she did. The room's atmosphere tensed noticeably and everyone stood still. They were hearing something. I then listened. There were footsteps going down the hallway quickly but quietly. They were walking away from the room. We had to see who the intruder was without letting them know we were on to them.

"Tony, and Daemon, when I give the quo, run out the door and tackle whoever is there. Layla and Natalia will jump out the window and into the next room, ambushing him from the front, while Paul and I stay here and Emily goes and sweeps the perimeter with Craig. Natalia tell them that with your mind. Claro?" Melissa said to me telepathically. I did so and they all nodded. Layla, Emily, Craig and I quickly jumped out the window and landed gracefully on the ground. Emily and Craig sped off into the forests around the house while Layla and I jumped back up into the window next door to the room we were just in. We quietly approached the door and I counted in my head.

"One, Two, Three!" I said telepathically and Layla and I ran out of the room at the same time as Tony and Daemon, and we all crashed. "That is not what I expected would happen. Are we sure someone was out here?' I asked.

"Yes. I smelt them. It was a vampire." Tony said.

"Someone was definitely here, is here for that matter I can still feel there presence." Melissa said from the other room. Before we could do anything there was a scream in the distance.

"Emily." I breathed. Before anyone processed what happened, we ran out of the house and followed the direction of Emily's screams. I reached the scene first and say Emily on the ground cuts exploding all over her body, tearing through her cloths. Craig was propped against a tree. He looked spacey and lost. He would have looked completely normal had he not been slightly bluish and his eyes were all black, demonic looking. There were two men, one staring at Emily intently and one watching the other.

Out of nowhere Daemon and Tony attack the men. Tony caught hold of the man hurting Emily and her cuts began to close, though some showing signs of scaring. Daemon was not so lucky. The man saw him coming and got the chance to stare directly into his eyes, which make Daemon immobilize just like Craig. I then felt it was time to step in. I created fire hand and leg cuffs that appeared on them. Once I was sure he was secure in them (you could tell by their whimpers) I did the same to the man Tony was securing.

"Thanks." Tony said after I placed the other man under my control. I grunted in reply.

"State your business here or be killed." I said to them. I felt different, like I could control these men and they would listen. I liked it.

"You wouldn't kill us. You know better Natalia; he wouldn't let you kill us. He knows every thing you will ever do, and killing us isn't what you are planning on." One of them men said menacingly. I growled. "You would never. You couldn't even if you tried." He taunted.

"Too weak." The other man grunted, breaking out of my cuffs. "Besides," He said while pacing around me, "We aren't here for you just yet. It is not your time. You know who we want, give her over and your very precious time wont be wasted."

"Never. Here and now, lets go." Layla said, moving into a defensive position. They laughed.

"Those are fighting words kid, and trust us, you don't want to fight." One of the men said.

"No one is going anywhere, anytime soon." Tony said, and then he quickly lunged at the first man. Within the blink of an eye he was gone, and Tony fell to the ground.

"Tisk, tisk. You're gonna have ter do much better than that macho man." His voice echoed throughout the forest. We all looked around then, at the same time looked up. "For a bunch of smart kids you're pretty stupid." He said. Then a cell phone went off. We looked around. It was none of us because none of us had them on our person. It was the second man. He began speaking rapidly, switching from Spanish to Italian to English every few sentences. After a few moments on the phone he briefly looked at the other guy then ran into the distance.

"Chasing after them isn't going to help anything, I know where they are going and we can't follow them there, not yet anyway." Melissa said as Tony, Layla and I were about to run after them. We were all fuming. We basically let them go without as much as a warning. Tony at one point got so mad he punched a tree, and it went flying.

"Shit." He said them disappeared momentarily. When he came back he was carrying a tree over his shoulder. He set it down on the ground with a thud, and then sat on it, placing his head in his hands. I went and sat next to him, hugging my knees to my chest. Craig began to grunt.

"No Mr. Monkey, I don't want fries with that, just some asparagus dipped in chocolate frosting." He said then woke up. We all smirked, not feeling like laughing as hard as it deserved. "What I miss?" Craig asked. Emily sat down next to him and filled him in. When he was done he became silent like the rest of us. Suddenly I decided what out next move was.

"We need to prepare." I said. Everyone knowing what I meant nodded their heads. "I need someone to do something for me, and it is going to hurt." I looked around, no one said anything. Then surprisingly Paul said,

"I'll do it. I feel like I owe something to you Natalia. I'm sorry for my behavior before. You understand right?" He said to me. I smiled lightly. That really meant a lot, especially because what I was about to do to him was excruciatingly painful.

"I am so sorry for this. Brace yourself." I warned him. He changed his stance then waited, as did I. I thought about what I was going to do to him. I was about to decide it was a bad idea but it already began to happen. Paul's skin was beginning to explode into cuts like Jack's did; only they weren't as bad. They lasted for a few minutes then I fell to the ground, too weak to stand. Everyone gathered around us.

"I'm sure not gonna get you mad Nik." Craig said jokingly. I smirked, but it quickly turned into a frown.

"I am so sorry Paul. I will never to that to anyone ever again. I know how it feels and it's… indescribable. I'm so sorry." I said to him.

"It's… okay… I under… stand" He said in several breaths.

"They are too weak to feed for themselves. Someone is going to have to go hunting and bring blood back for them." Daemon and Layla agreed to go hunting for the two of us while Tony, Emily and Craig stayed behind. "Ok. I'll get you some thing to bring it back in." She said then ran into the house. She rummaged around for a while then finally came back out with two jars. "Fill them up." She told them, and then they were off.

"We should get them to their beds." Tony said. Melissa agreed. Tony then gently picked me up then ran me up into our bedroom, and laid me down on the bed. Emily followed him. "I have to go help move Paul, don't move." He said to me. I laughed.

"Not that I could if I wanted to." I mumbled. Emily laughed at Tony's stupidity.

"So you think you have other powers?" Emily asked her. I thought about it. What if that was the thing I inherited from Vincent? What if I had all of his powers? Could I use what he has against him? I probably could. I began to smile uncontrollably then told Emily what I had discovered.


End file.
